Ashleigh Johnson made nine saves and Kiley Neushul scored three times, helping the USA beat Italy 12-5 in the Olympic water polo final.

Team USA stretched their winning streak to 22 games with their sixth victory at Rio 2016 to create a combined score of 73-32. USA also won gold at London 2012 - the only two-time winner since the tournament was added to the Olympic Games in 2000.

Federica Radicchi scored two goals for the Italians, who had also won their first five games in Rio.

In another Olympic Games dominated by the US women, Maggie Steffens and company shone brightly. The water polo team currently holds each of the major titles in the sport, adding a second Olympic gold to its world championship, World Cup and World League Super Final titles.

Steffens was voted most valuable player and Johnson receievd the award for best goalkeeper.

Bronze for Russia

Earlier, Russia had secured the bronze medal with a 19-18 win over Hungary in penalty shots, for the country's first Olympic women's water polo medal since 2000.

Anastasia Simanovich scored a tying power-play goal with one second left in regulation time and Anna Karnaukh denied Hungary's Hanna Kisteleki in the seventh round of penalty shots.

Winning a medal "means everything to me," Simanovich said after the match. "I was striving to be a member of this team. I was dreaming about coming here to the Games, so it's everything for me."

Rita Keszthelyi gave Hungary a 12-11 lead with a penalty shot with just over a minute left in regulation time. Hungary called a time-out with 32 seconds left, and Russia coach Aleksandr Gaidukov delivered a simple message to his team before it headed back into play.

"I said, 'Believe in yourself. Everything is in your hands, and you have to do it,'" Gaidukov said.