RIO DE JANEIRO >> Led by the world’s best gymnast, Simone Biles, the powerhouse U.S. women’s gymnastic team romped to the gold medal at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday.

The team of Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian lived up to their prohibitive favorites role by putting up the highest total score in every apparatus.

The gold medal, the Americans’ third team gold after 2012 and 1996, came in the final Olympics for the national team coordinator, Martha Karolyi, a crucial player in the rise of American gymnastics for more than 30 years.

Here’s how they did it.

>> A Strong Start on the Vault

The Americans opened up with the vault. Raisman and Biles tried the difficult Amanar, in which the vaulter does 2 1/2 twists with a blind landing. Raisman scored a 15.833, and Biles did even better at 15.933, despite making a hop on landing.

After one rotation, the Americans were already out in front, by 0.7 points over Russia, who performed on the bars.

>> Douglas Gets Her Moment

The bars were the one chance of the day to perform for team members Douglas, the 2012 all-around champion, and Kocian, a bars specialist and a 2015 world champion in the event. Both delivered. Douglas got lots of height on her release skills and hit her handstands, then stuck her double layout dismount to get a 15.766. Kocian performed one of the most difficult routines at the Olympics, and nailed it, scoring a stellar 15.933.

The United States extended its lead to a comfortable 4 points over China. Russia slipped to third.

>> Avoiding Trouble on the Balance Beam

No serious mishaps for the Americans on the sometimes perilous beam. Raisman hit her full twisting double Arabian landing for a 15.0; Hernandez gave a disciplined performance for a 15.233. The incomparable Biles survived a balance check and made just a small hop on her dismount, one of the hardest in the world, a full-twisting double tuck for a 15.3.

>> ‘The Biles’ Helps Wrap It Up on Floor

Because they were the top qualifiers, the Americans got to end on floor exercise. That was considered an advantage because the U.S. floor scores tend to be high, and crowd support for the floor is big. But with a nearly 5-point lead over China, it hardly mattered.

Hernandez gave her typical charismatic performance, starting with a wink for the crowd. The scoring system tends to favor difficult tumbling over choreography. Hernandez, however, has helped to bring artistry and dance back into American gymnastics, to the applause of many.

Biles’ second tumbling pass included a double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing, a move dubbed the Biles because she was the first gymnast to land it in competition.

Great performances have come to be expected from the U.S. women’s team. They didn’t even need a great performance to win Tuesday. But they delivered one anyway.