The Australian men's crew of Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alex Hill made it a golden rowing double on Wednesday morning after the women topped the podium in the same event in the previous race.

While Australia won gold in the men's four in 1992 and 1996 to earn the Oarsome Foursome tag, Great Britain had won the event at every Olympics since.

Romania finished with a flourish to take the silver medal while Italy crossed in third, with Great Britain coming home in fourth.

The Australians got off to a fast start and were ahead at the halfway mark, with the Brits moving into second.

But with Hill lifting the stroke rating, the men in green and gold kept their boat in front as the field closed in.

They crossed the line in an Olympic best five minutes 42.76 seconds, with Romania 0.37 seconds behind.

Australian Associated Press