While their Olympic-best time set in the semi-final would have won gold in the final, Australia's men's sprint kayakers were thrilled to snap a 12-year drought and medal in the K4 event.
In a blanket finish after 500 metres, the crew of Riley Fitzsimmons, Jackson Collins, Pierre van der Westhuyzen and Noah Havard were edged by 0.04 seconds by Germany, who won their third successive K4 title.
The Australians looked shattered when the result of the photo finish came through at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium but quickly realised that a silver medal was something to celebrate.
"That initial feeling was a little bit gutted, we were so close to gold," said 25-year-old Collins, whose blossoming AFL career was wrecked by knee injuries.
"We knew that we could go out and really push for a win and to be so close, that initial feeling was a little bit of disappointment but then it wears off pretty quick."
Teammate Fitzsimmons, competing in the K4 at his third Games, said he knew the pain of missing the podium altogether, with Australia's last medal a gold in London, when the event was raced over 1000m
"This is my third go at an Olympics and trying to medal in this race and I've sat on that dock and been bitterly disappointed with not picking up anything," the 28-year-old said.
"To come away with a silver medal, I'm just so proud of how much hard work and sacrifice we've put in and so happy that we've come away with something."
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, and will again start among the favourites in Paris with the final on Friday.
The Australian men's Olympic campaign started slowly, finishing a shock third in their heat on Tuesday.
But in the semi-final, raced early Thursday, they made a statement by setting an Olympic record in the event.
That time was 0.58 seconds faster than Germany's gold medal time of one minute 19.22 seconds.
After the race was recalled for a false start by two crews, the Australians sat third at the halfway mark, 0.31 seconds behind race leaders Spain.
But with Collins calling the shots, they motored past Spain but couldn't quite catch the world champions.
Meanwhile, the Australian women's K4 crew of Ella Beere, Aly Bull, Alexandra Clarke and Yale Steinepreis were last in their eight-boat final, won by New Zealand with veteran Lisa Carrington collecting her sixth gold medal among an Olympic haul of nine.
