Travis Stevens (born February 28, 1986) is an American

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

practitioner who competed in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

.Sport-Reference
/ref> He competes in the men's half-middleweight (−81 kg) division. On August 9, 2016, Stevens became the third American male judoka to win a silver medal in the Olympics.

Career

An early start at the age of 6 enabled him to acquire a vast amount of knowledge in Judo and other martial arts. Travis is an outstanding athlete in the disciplines of

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

and

, and holds many accomplishments in both. He is currently ranked number 12 in the world in the −81 kg weight class by the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...

(as of 9 August 2016). At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, he lost to eventual gold medalist Ole Bischof in the third round, before losing to

Tiago Camilo Tiago Henrique de Oliveira Camilo (born 24 May 1982) is a judoka from Brazil, who won the silver medal in the lightweight (−73 kg) division at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also won a gold medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships, and was ...

in the repechage. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he again lost to 2008 gold medalist Ole Bischof, this time in the semi-finals by judges' decision. Stevens was then beaten in the bronze medal match by Canada's

Antoine Valois-Fortier Antoine Valois-Fortier (born 13 March 1990) is a Canadian retired judoka who won the bronze medal in the −81 kg category at the 2012 Olympics, becoming the first Canadian to win a medal in Olympic judo in twelve years and the fifth to w ...

. At the

, he lost to Khasan Khalmaurzaev (Russia) in the finals, earning a silver medal. Stevens primarily teaches out of FUJI Gym in

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers ...

, which he opened on January 12, 2013. Travis also holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under John Danaher and

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family of Brazil, Renzo is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is the so ...

, which Danaher awarded on November 19, 2013. He trains at the

Renzo Gracie Academy Renzo Gracie Academy is a martial arts school headed by Renzo Gracie, located in Midtown Manhattan. Overview Renzo Gracie founded the academy in 1996. It was originally above a methadone clinic before it moved to its current location at 224 Wes ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with several elite athletes. Travis also teaches at Renzo Gracie Fort Lee in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

References

External links

* * * American male judoka American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Bellevue, Washington Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for the United States Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in judo Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games {{US-judo-bio-stub