Olympic hero: A massive congratulations to Travis Stevens who represented our country with such brilliance and skill today in the pinnacle of all sports – the Olympic Games. Travis fought through some of the best Judoka in the world to get into the finals, defeating his opponents with a superb blend of powerful and disciplined gripping, mixed with a superb sense of opportunity and technical precision on the mat. One could not hope to see a better display of the fusion of standing grappling (tachi waza) and ground grappling (ne waza). The years of hard work under his great coach, Jimmy Pedro (himself a master of the interface between standing and ground) paid off with a memorable path to the finals. Mr Stevens is the first American male to win a silver medal in Olympic judo since 1992. In doing so he showed that the fusion of standing and ground grappling can produce incredible results at the very highest levels. The squad is so proud of this amazing achievement- made all the more special by the fact that he fought not just for himself or his team – but for his nation. Thank you, Travis Stevens, for representing our nation and our sport so superbly. Can't wait to see you back in nyc
