The U.S defeated hosts Japan 90-75 in the final of the women’s basketball at the Tokyo Games on Sunday to win a seventh straight Olympic gold.

U.S great Sue Bird opened the scoring less than a minute into the start of the game, giving the Americans a lead which they never relinquished.

“It is hard to wrap your head around it, to grasp what it is,” said the 40-year-old Bird, who along with 39-year-old Diana Taurasi, now have five gold medals – the most ever in Olympic basketball.

“Twenty years of staying true to the game, making sure you’re at the top of your game, so much sacrifice.”

Two fellow Americans, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony share the record for most gold medals won by a male player.

“We’ve ignored the ‘five gold’ talk because we just want to be in the moment, and we want to enjoy our last Olympics and make it about the team,” said Taurasi.

“It’s 20 years of sacrifice. It’s a lot of time on the court. It’s a lot of time away from your family, and we’ve been able to do it together which means more than any medal that we’ve won.”

There was intense defensive pressure and some good three-point shooting from the Japanese, with Nako Motohashi lighting it up from the distance with 4/5.

But the Americans’ size and skill proved too much for the hosts.

Brittney Griner led the U.S in scoring with 30 points – on 78 per cent shooting from the floor – to which she added five rebounds and three blocks in an impressive stat line.

U.S players A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart added 19 and 14 points respectively and a combined eight blocks.

Maki Takada and Motohashi were the only two Japanese players in double figures with 16 and 17 respectively.

The U.S. women have won every gold medal in basketball since 1996.

This is their 55th consecutive win at the Olympics.