RIO DE JANEIRO -- American judoka Travis Stevens, formerly of San Jose State, has made it to the semifinals of the men's 81-kilogram judo division at the Rio Olympics after winning his preliminary three fights on Tuesday morning.
Stevens dominated his matches with an aggressive style and won two automatically by ippon, one with a match-ending throw and the other by pinning down his opponent for 20 seconds, which also instantly ends the bout. Stevens, 30, finished fifth at the London Olympics and recently won the World Master's tournament in May, which features only the world's top 16 judo athletes He will face top-ranked Georgian Avtandil Tchrikishvili in the semifinals later Tuesday.