(UPDATES with quotes)
Last year's world silver medalists Australia narrowly claimed gold Thursday in a close-run Olympic men's kayak four final.
The Australians held a quarter-length advantage for most of the race to cross the 1000 meter line in two minutes, 55.08 seconds.
Tate Smith, Dave Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear regained a gold medal Australia last won 20 years ago in Barcelona.
"We knew we would be right up there," said Tate Smith. "And it was just awesome from the start. We just dug deep and brought it home. It was just perfect," added Smith, no relation to teammate Dave.
The silver medal went to Sydney 2000 champions Hungary, who couldn't make inroads on the Australians despite a late spurt to clock 2:55.69.
The Czech Republic snatched bronze from Beijing silver medalists Slovakia on the line in 2:55.85.
