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Australia have clinched an Olympic silver medal in a thrilling men's K4 500 metre final, edged by sprint kayak powerhouse Germany.
In a blanket finish, the crew of Riley Fitzsimmons, Jackson Collins, Pierre van der Westhuyzen and Noah Havard finished in second spot in a photo finish, with Spain third.
Taking their third successive Olympic title in the event, Germany won the race in 1 minute 19.80 seconds, 0.04 seconds ahead of Australia, with the Spaniards 0.21 seconds back from the green and gold paddlers.
It was a second Olympic medal for the family of South African-born van der Westhuyzen, after his older brother Jean won gold in Tokyo in the K2, which he will line up in again in Paris.
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The Australian men's Olympic campaign started slowly, finishing a shock third in their heat on Tuesday.
But in the semifinal, raced earlier Thursday, they made a statement by setting a new Olympic best time in the event.
That time, 1:19.22, would have won them gold in the final.
"We left it out there, all the way to the line. Can't be upset with what we put down there," Havard told the Nine Network.
The teams had to wait for official confirmation of the winner, such was the narrow margin between gold and silver.
Not letting the margin of defeat dampen his spirits, Fitzsimmons said after the race he hoped the crew would encourage juniors in the same way he was inspired by the Australian team in London 2012.
"I think the motto for that Olympics was 'Inspire a generation'. They certainly inspired us. I hope we inspired a few people back at home today," he told the Nine Network.
Meanwhile, the Australian women's K4 crew of Ella Beere, Aly Bull, Alexandra Clarke and Yale Steinepreis were last in their final, won by New Zealand with veteran Lisa Carrington winning her sixth gold among an Olympic haul of nine medals.
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