Pan American Games | Tacoma's Stevens earns judo gold

Pan American Games Tacoma's Stevens earns judo gold
By The Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Travis Stevens of Tacoma won a gold medal in the 81-kilogram class in judo Saturday at the 15th Pan American Games.
Stevens beat Brazil's Flavio Canto, a bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics, in the semifinal round and defeated Mario Valles of Colombia in the final.
Stevens was unseeded and competing on his first senior international team. He had to earn a berth in a best-of-three fight-off at the U.S. Pan Am Games trials.
"It feels really good to have won," Stevens said. "It's kind of a relief because I was definitely afraid of how I'd do coming into today, but I'm very happy."
Stevens' jitters continued after he beat Canto.
"I was really nervous for the final," the 21-year-old said of going against Valles. "He's really quick with his feet, so I was worried I'd get caught."
Ryan Reser of Colorado Springs, Colo., won gold in the 73-kilogram class.
Brazilian swimmer surpasses Spitz's record
Brazil's Thiago Pereira won his sixth swimming gold of these Games, beating the record set 40 years ago by Mark Spitz of the United States.
Pereira, 21, took the 200-meter breaststroke over teammate Henrique Barbosa.
Spitz was 17 when he won five gold medals at the 1967 Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Fonte: Seattle Times - United States - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/