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Australian sprint canoeist Nathan Baggaley, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and his brother, Dru Baggaley, were found guilty Thursday in a plot to smuggle 650 kilograms of cocaine into the country.
9 News Australia reported Dru Baggaley, 39, was on a boat intercepted by Australian authorities in July 2018 after it was observed collecting packages thrown into the water by a large ship. A search of the vessel found the cocaine, which was valued at $200 million Australian (US$152 million).
Nathan, 45, was not aboard at the time of the incident, but Australian prosecutors said in court he purchased the boat and "helped plan the crime," per 9 News Australia.
Following a two-week trial, a Brisbane Supreme Court jury found the brothers guilty of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
They will remain in custody while they awaiting sentencing in the case.
In December 2015, the brothers were sentenced to 27 months in prison for their role in a drug manufacturing syndicate. That came after May 2009 sentences of nine years for Nathan and 12 years for Dru after being found guilty of "manufacturing and supplying" over 1,500 ecstasy tablets.
Nathan was suspended from canoeing events in September 2005 after testing positive for two banned steroids. He never returned to competition.
He won silver medals in the K-1 500 meters and the K-2 500 meters at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. He also captured three gold medals at the world championships (2002, 2003 and 2005) in the K-1 event.
Liam Heath justified his favourite's status by taking gold in the men's canoeing sprint kayak single 200-metre final at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. The Team GB man produced a typically late sprint to power over the line ahead of the rest of the field.
German pair Sebastian Brendel and Jan Vandrey were just as dominant in the men's double 1000-metre final. Like Heath, Brendel and Vandrey relied on leaving it late to see off rivals and claim gold.
Hungary were also big winners on the day as the nation retained its Olympic title in the women's K4 500-metre final. Finally, Germany took a second team gold when the men's crew powered way ahead of the competition in the K4 1000-metres.
Here are the medal winners from Saturday's four races:
| Race | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's Kayak Single 200-metre final | Liam Heath (GBR) | Maxime Beaumont (FRA) | Saule Craviotto (ESP) and Ronald Rauhe (GER) |
| Men's Canoe Double 1000-metre final | Sebastian Brendel and Jan Vandrey (GER) | Erlon Silva and Isaquias Queiroz dos Santoa (BRA) | Dmytro Ianchuk and Taras Mishchuk (UKR) |
| Women's Kayak Four 500-metre final | Hungary | Germany | Belarus |
| Men's Kayak Four 1000-metre final | Germany | Slovakia | Czech Republic |
Heath made a poor start in the men's kayak single 200-metre final. It left him needing a late surge to catch Frenchman Maxime Beaumont.
Sensationally, Heath found the late surge he needed over the final stretch. It also helped that Beaumont had begun to fade.
That's a fatal flaw against Heath, a paddler who specialises in late finishes. BBC Sport detailed exactly how much ground Heath had to make up to secure gold:
He's found a formula that has led him to great success at these Games:
There was some controversy in the rest of the medal picture. Beaumont had comfortably secured silver, but there was no separating the photo finish between Spaniard Saul Craviotto and Germany's Ronald Rauhe, both of whom were awarded bronze.
Another strong finish decided gold in the double 1000-metre men's final. The medal went to German crew Brendel and Vandrey.
It was delight for Germany, but major disappointment for host nation Brazil. Erlon Silva and Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos led for the majority of the race, but they couldn't quite paddle clear of the powerful Brendel.
The women's kayak four 500-metre final soon became a two-boat race, with Germany and Hungary vying for gold at the front. It was the pace of paddling that eventually took the latter nation to the big prize.
The Hungarians timed their decisive sprint well to leave Germany frustrated and retain their Olympic title. It was a controlled paddle from the four-woman crew, who kept the stroke rate consistent.
Meanwhile, Team GB slipped to seventh despite a solid start in a race loaded with top performers. The team's official social media count relayed their finishing time:
Germany's men sought to make amends in the K4 1000-metre final. They got off to a great start, leading out of the pack almost a third of a boat length in front of nearest rivals Slovakia.
The advantage started to increase as the German crew put a lot of intensity into the early portion of the race. Such was the power and pace of their start that dropping back became a legitimate concern.
Yet, if anything, Germany became stronger and pushed toward the line with efficiency, symmetry and precision from the boat. In the end, it was a conclusive sail to a second gold.
Ukraine's Iurii Cheban set an Olympic-best time to successfully defend his London 2012 title at Rio 2016 in the 200-metre men's canoe single on Thursday, while Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos took bronze for hosts Brazil.
The German duo led from the front to ease to victory in the 1000-metre men's kayak double, while Spain were impressive winning gold in the 200-metre event, with Great Britain taking silver.
In the 500-metre women's kayak single, Hungary's Danuta Kozak blitzed the competition to successfully defend her 2012 title and claim a fourth career Olympic gold medal.
Here are the results from Thursday’s action at the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas:
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's Kayak Double 1000m | Germany 3:10.781 | Serbia 3:10.969 | Australia 3:12.593 |
| Men's Canoe Single 200m | Iurii Cheban (UKR) 39.279 | Valentin Demyanenko (AZE) 39.493 | Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos (BRA) 39.628 |
| Men's Kayak Double 200m | Spain 32.075 | Great Britain 32.368 | Lithuania 32.382 |
| Women's Kayak Single 500m | Danuta Kozak (HUN) 1:52.494 | Emma Jorgensen (DEN) 1:54.326 | Lisa Carrington (NZL) 1:54.372 |
Full results at Rio2016.com.
Cheban, 30, only made it through to the final after a mix-up in qualification rules was resolved and he was restored as one of the fastest losers.
As a result, he was in one of the unfavourable outside lanes, but it mattered little as he made a fine start and just kept his nose in front to the line, pushing Azerbaijan's Valentin Demyanenko into the silver medal position.
Having won silver in the 1000-metre race just days ago, Queiroz dos Santos made a terrible start in the 200 but came back strongly and crossed the line to take bronze on Thursday.
Per BigSport, the 22-year-old has come through remarkable adversity to become a double Olympic medalist:
Isaquias Queiroz:
— BigSport (@BigSportGB) August 18, 2016
At 3: Covered in boiling water
At 5: Kidnapped
At 10: Loses kidney
At 22: #Silver & #Bronze pic.twitter.com/DiiTDlOUpr
In the men's 1000-metre kayak double, Germany's duo of Marcus Gross and Max Rendschmidt were imperious, leading right from the off and opening up clear water over the rest of the field at the halfway stage.
They held off a late surge from the Serbs to claim gold, while Australian pair Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame took bronze.
In a blistering 200-metre men's kayak final, Saul Craviotto and Cristian Toro of Spain had the edge and took gold convincingly, while Team GB's Liam Heath and Jon Schofield moved late to beat the Lithuanian duo into third
Kozak took her time to get into the women's 500-metre kayak single, but once she hit the front, she completely dominated the field, leaving the rest to fight out for silver and bronze.
