New Zealand rower Robbie Manson and his men's double sculls partner, Chris Harris, advanced to the semifinals by winning their heat on Saturday. In Heat 1 they finished with a time of 6:40.35, the seventh fastest time of the day. By winning their heat, they are seeded third going into the semifinal

Manson is one of about a dozen publicly out gay men competing at the Olympic Games, and the first to compete. He and Harris have a good shot at a medal, but now the competition begins in earnest. The duo won bronze at the World Champioship last year. The boat from New Zealand, featuring Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan, won the gold medal in this event at the London Summer Olympics.

The top two seeds going into the semifinals will be the boats from Lithuania and Croatia, as they won their heats but finished with faster times than Manson and Harris.

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