Aleh and Powrie were delighted with the outcome of today's race, describing it as one of the most high pressure races they've sailed.
"It was a pretty tough race. Sail by the seat of your pants, see what happens and keep hoping it will work out. We knew we had to beat both of them [Mills/Clark and Haeger/Provancha] and be top five if the Austrians won,"
Aleh told ISAF.
"We always wanted to do well but just had to beat those boats. Pretty early on, as we started we were in the middle of them and kept an eye on them. The Americans dropped back pretty quickly so it was just between us and the Brits."
"Everyone found it stressful. There was a lot happening. When the boys raced before the wind was a little bit more set but the wind had just changed. It was one of the most unstable medal races we've done."
After a seven race series in the Men's 470 event the kiwi pair of Snow-Hansen and Willcox had taken a win in race four and some decent results against tough competition to lie sixth overall.
However they saved the best to last with a cracking medal race win in Rio today to propel them onto the podium for a bronze medal. Australian's Matt Belcher and Will Ryan took out the gold with Brits Luke Patience and Elliott Willis claiming the silver.
The Laser and Laser Radials also concluded the regatta today with New Zealand represented in the Laser medal race by Sam Meech, older brother of 49erFX crew Molly. Meech finished fifth in today's final race to wrap up the regatta in ninth overall.
The next major event on the Olympic sailing calendar is widely accepted as this year's pinnacle event - the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander, Spain from 8-21 September 2014.