Day 1

(Colorado Springs, CO)

Nick Delpopolo grazed the podium Saturday, taking fifth on the first day of the intensely competitive Dusseldorf Grand Prix in Germany.

A contender for the 2012 Olympic Judo Team to London, Delpopolo was looking very strong, particularly in his second match against Maldovian Trudov Marcel, who’d already won two matches with an ippon and waza aris.

A member of USA Judo’s Team FORCE coached by Jimmy Pedro in Wakefield, Mass., Delpopolo tossed Marcel with uchimata for one waza ari and then countered him with a foot sweep for a second waza ari, ending the match in nearly 3 ½ minutes.

Delpopolo then lost his third match against Yuki Nishiyama of Japan by a yuko, the only score in the five-minute match, landing him fifth in the 73 kg division.

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 Jim 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.

Stevens went on to nail another ippon in his second match against Slovenian Aljaz Sedej after leading him with penalties almost through the entire match.

These players have given Stevens trouble in the past, Pedro Sr. said. Stevens barely beat the Englishman in golden-score at a recent tournament. And the Slovenian beat Stevens at the Worlds in 2009.

Fights didn’t get any easier. It was in his third match that he bested Ole Bischof of Germany by yuko, but what a victory that was! Bischof took gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Stevens came in 9th at that Olympics, his first.

This was a different Stevens today, Pedro Sr. said. This fighter was technically savvy and operating on his experience like never before.

“Today was his best day yet,” Pedro said. “He fought great technically, he fought really great matches all day.” And, today, Pedro said, Stevens fought like an experienced fighter, like someone who was learning from past matches and training. “The English kid never expected this,” the uchimata, Pedro said.

Stevens last two matches were against Russians. “Usually the Russians will pick you up when you make a mistake and throw you,” Pedro Sr. said. “He didn’t give ‘em that chance. They couldn’t get him.”
Stevens won both his last matches by yukos, very tough fights, Pedro said, against Arsen Pshmakhov in his fourth match and Murat Khabachirov in the fifth and last match.

Stevens is a strong contender for the 2012 Olympic team headed for London. Among his recent laurels, Stevens took bronze at the Paris Grand Slam last year, another of the toughest tournaments in the world, and he took gold at USA Judo’s 2010 Senior National Championships.

Stevens was among 500 competitors from nearly 70 countries at the two-day Grand Prix Dusseldorf this weekend, an A-level event tempting athletes with 15 ranking points for a gold medal win, nine points for silver and six for bronze. The only thing higher includes A+ tourneys like the Olympics and World Championships.

Coaching the US team in Germany were Eddie Liddie, USA Judo’s Director of Athlete Performance who oversees training of all elite athletes sparring for Olympic team spots, and Jim Pedro Sr. USA Judo sent 13 judokas to the tournament. For complete results, visit www.ippon.org

-- Story by Ernest Pund