Judo: Khalmurzaev wins Russia's second judo gold at Rio

2016 Rio Olympics - Judo - Final - Men -81 kg Final - Gold Medal Contest - Carioca Arena 2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Travis Stevens (USA) of USA and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS) of Russia compete. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

By Chris Gallagher

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Khasan Khalmurzaev earned Russia's second judo gold medal of the Rio Games on Tuesday, beating Travis Stevens of the United States for the top prize in the men's -81kg category.

Ending his campaign with a bang, the Russian won his final two matches by ippon -- judo's equivalent of a knockout -- over Sergiu Toma of the United Arab Emirates in the semi-final and then Stevens.

Stevens had been vying to become the first man from the United States to win gold in judo.

Despite settling for silver, it was third time lucky for the American after he had come home without a medal from the Beijing and London Olympics.

Takanori Nagase won Japan's sixth judo bronze medal so far in Rio. Toma won the other bronze.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Alison Williams)