RIO DE JANEIRO — Last time in London they were so far ahead of the rest of the planet they were in their own solar system. The US women’s gymnastics team hammered the Russians by a whopping 5 points for the team title, Gabby Douglas won the all-around, and Aly Raisman found gold on the floor. It’s four years later and they’re in the tropics, but if anything, the Americans are even better now than they were then.

Simone Biles, the three-time world champion, is the heavy favorite to become the fourth consecutive US competitor to claim the individual title. Douglas, last year’s world runner-up, is back as is Raisman, the 22-year-old Needham, Mass., native who’s captaining the squad again. Madison Kocian, the uneven bars specialist, shared the global title last year. And 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez, who finished second at last month’s trials, is the feisty newcomer poised for a five-ringed breakout.

“It’s very good to combine the experience with the newcomers and I always like that composition,’’ says national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, whose squad takes the floor Sunday afternoon for the qualifying round. “It works very well this time also.’’

No women’s team from any country ever has come to the Games with the reigning Olympic and world titlists. The 20-year-old Douglas, the first all-around gold medalist to return since Romania’s Nadia Comaneci in 1980, was named to the squad despite a shaky trials performance where she placed seventh overall. “After trials it was hard because there was a lot of negativity but, whatever,’’ she said. “I feel like I always have to prove myself, no matter.’’

What got Douglas back on the roster was her strength on bars and her reputation for stepping up when the lights go on, as she did at last year’s global meet in Glasgow. So she’ll be up on all four events in qualifying as will Biles and Raisman, who missed the London bronze by a tiebreaker.

The Americans, who won five medals at the last Games, collected eight at the world championships and could match that total here. The qualifying round will determine which two US competitors will advance to the all-around and how many of them will make the event finals.

Biles, who’s the world titlist on floor and balance beam, could be in three of the four. Raisman, who took a year’s sabbatical after 2012, still is a medal contender on floor, where she’ll be going up last. And Kocian is a likely podium finisher on bars, where the Yanks missed out last time.

What seems to be beyond doubt is that the Americans will win back-to-back team crowns for the first time. They romped over the Chinese by more than 5 points last year and won’t have to worry about the Romanians, the three-time champions who failed to qualify for the Games for the first time since 1968 after making the podium 10 straight times.

“It’s really sad to see a nation which was dominating for several quadrenniums on the world stage,’’ said Karolyi, who with husband Bela built the program from the ground up in the ’70s. “The system is broken. I don’t know why. I feel they have some conflicts with organization. They don’t have enough up-and-coming gymnasts.’’

The Americans probably could have placed a second team in the top six with the gymnasts that they left home. They’re now the gold standard and should mine a motherlode here. “We’re just so well prepared that we know exactly what to expect of ourselves and our gymnastics once we get out on the competition floor,’’ said Biles.

The US males, meanwhile, put themselves in medal position Saturday afternoon, sitting second (270.405) behind China’s two-time defending champions (270.461) and ahead of Russia (269.612) and Japan’s world titlists (269.294). “We did our job,’’ said Sam Mikulak, who qualified for the all-around final along with Chris Brooks.

Mikulak also earned tickets for event finals on floor (as did Jake Dalton) and high bar (with world medalist Danell Leyva). Leyva also made it on parallel bars and Alex Naddour on pommel horse.

The Japanese, looking to reclaim the crown that they won in 2004 in Athens, had a rocky outing marked by world champion Kohei Uchimura falling off the high bar. “They’ll come out to play,’’ predicted Dalton. “It was like China. They messed up in prelims in 2012, then they came out and they were dominant in the finals. So we’re not taking any of those guys easy at all.’’

After finishing fifth both in London and Glasgow, the Yanks are intent on making the podium, which they’ve managed at two of the last three Games. All five members were in London either as competitors or alternates.

“It gives us a little bit of an advantage but you can’t take anything for granted,’’ said Mikulak, who’s the top US hope in the all-around after placing seventh. That may have been the problem last time when the Yanks won the qualifying by three points over the Russians and then collapsed in the final.

“The fact that we won [in qualifying] might have made us a little overconfident in ourselves,’’ conceded Mikulak. “It’s great to have that confidence but you still need that sense of urgency. I think that’s something that we learned and something that we won’t let happen again.’’

John Powers can be reached at john.powers@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jpowizglobe