Row your boat

Robbie Manson won ‘Athlete of the Year’ — celebrate with his steamy Instagram

It’s been quite a year for openly gay Olympic rower Robbie Manson. The New Zealander continued his awesome, record-setting 2017 this week by being honored with the male athlete of the year award at the Association of National Olympic Committees at a ceremony in Prague.

Related: Olympic Rower Robbie Manson Shares His Inspiring Coming Out Story

Manson was the winner from Oceania, alongside fellow Kiwi and female winner, rugby player Sarah Goss. The coveted award honors male and female athletes from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

In June, Manson won two gold medals at international rowing events, setting a new world record in single sculls at a meet in Poznan, Poland.

Related: PHOTOS: Row Your Boat Gently Down Robbie Manson’s Olympic Stream

“That was amazing,” Manson said of the world record. “It was a real high for me. I’m back into training now for summer races [it’s spring now in the Southern Hemisphere] and national champs then working towards world champs next year with big goal of Tokyo 2020.”

Manson came out in 2014. Last summer he competed at the 2016 Rio Games where he said that coming out made him a better athlete after he no longer felt compelled to hide his true identity.

Scroll down for more pics from Mason’s Instagram page…

I had a good race against @danifridman yesterday in the quarter-final, good luck for your Semi-final today Dani ?????

A post shared by Robbie Manson (@robbie_manson) on

Heats start tomorrow #wrch2017 #sarasota ?? ? @rowingcelebration

A post shared by Robbie Manson (@robbie_manson) on

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A post shared by Robbie Manson (@robbie_manson) on

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