Member News

February 27, 2011   

US Team heads home from Europe, attention turns to Pan Americans

(Colorado Springs, CO)

US athletes head home this week from a European tour of tourneys and training camps with a huge victory under their obi by Travis Stevens, who took gold at the super-elite Dusseldorf Grand Prix a week ago.

Athletes competed over this weekend at World Cups in Warsaw and Prague but none ascended the podium.

Focus now turns to South America as elite athletes, including some of those returning from Europe, head for a Pan American tournament in Guayaquil, Ecuador, scheduled to begin later this week.

Travis Stevens, who trains under two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist Jimmy Pedro at Team FORCE in Wakefield, Mass., grabbed a gold medal at the A+ Level event in Dusseldorf last Sunday, besting the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist on the podium climb. Stevens was the first American to take gold at this premium event.

- Story by Ernest Pund