Biles and Team USA earn 'redemption' with Paris gold

"The Redemption Tour" ended in a familiar spot for Simone Biles: on top of the Olympic podium. Again.

The American gymnastics star and her singular brilliance powered a dominant USA women's team in the finals inside a raucous Bercy Arena on Tuesday night.

With Biles at her show-stopping best, the Americans' total of 171.296 was well clear of Italy and Brazil and the exclamation point of a year-long run in which Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics.

The outcome was not in doubt for USA from the moment Jordan Chiles began the night by drilling her double-twisting Yurchenko vault.

By the time Biles, the left calf that bothered her during qualifying heavily taped, stepped onto the floor for the final event her fifth Olympic gold medal was well in hand.

The 27-year-old provided the exclamation point anyway, sealing the Americans' third gold in their last four trips to the Games.

The Americans remain peerless when at their best.

And over two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams and actor Natalie Portman to Biles' husband, Chicago Bears NFL player Jonathan Owens, Biles left little doubt about anything.

Her status as the sport's greatest of all time. Her ability to move past the "twisties" that derailed her in Tokyo. Her spot in the pantheon of the US Olympic movement.

Three years after removing herself from the same competition to protect herself - a decision that changed the conversation around mental health in elite sports Biles pushed her medal total in major competition to a staggering 38 and counting.

Eight of those have come under the Olympic rings, moving her past Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast.

Yet her return wasn't so much about winning. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way. It seems to have returned.

Yet the 27-year-old hardly did it alone. Lee and Chiles were on the team that earned silver in Tokyo with Biles watching from the sidelines. They navigated a series of setbacks both physical and personal to return to this moment and get the gold they so badly wanted.

And there they were on the biggest stage, Chiles doing all four rotations right next to her good friend Biles while doubling as the American's hype woman. Lee mixing her elegance with grit while dazzling on beam and uneven bars, her two best events.

Carey won the floor exercise in Tokyo, but did it with an asterisk of sorts. She had earned her way in through a nominative process the sport's governing body has since abandoned. She was with Team USA in Tokyo but not actually part of the official four-woman squad.

She vowed to write a different ending this time, and the Cheng vault she did on the first rotation scored a 14.800 - second only to Biles - to give the US a commanding lead before Biles even saluted the judges.

The only real drama was over would finish next to the Americans on the medal stand.

Italy earned their first Olympic team medal since 1928 by holding off Brazil, who took bronze for their first medal in the biggest event in the sport.

Yet there was no question about the top spot. There rarely ever is when Biles is involved.