Konan Judo

February 20, 2011 – U.S. Olympian Travis Stevens battled his way to gold at the super hot Dusseldorf Grand Prix today, defeating the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, Ole Bischof, on the climb.

Stevens came out fast and fierce, slamming his first opponent, Thomas Davis of Britain, in just 47 seconds with a stunning uchimata, one of the sport’s most beautiful throws, for ippon.

“He just planted him,” said Pedro Sr., in charge of the elite competition teams at Pedro’s Judo Center in Wakefield, Mass., home of Team FORCE where Stevens trains under Pedro Sr.’s son, two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist Jimmy Pedro.

Stevens may have added to history with his gold win, Pedro Sr. believes, because he is probably only the second American to win a gold at this A-Level tourney. Jimmy Pedro was the first, Pedro Sr. said.

For the full story, click here.

For complete results, click here.

— Story by Ernest Pund

This entry was posted on February 21, 2011 at 8:09 am and is filed under Judo Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.