RIO DE JANEIRO — It was a career day for Wakefield, Mass., resident Travis Stevens, who earned a silver medal in the half middleweight division Tuesday.

Stevens, the elder statesmen of the United States judo team at age 30, won his first four matches, including a decisive win over Avtandil Tchrikishvili of Georgia in the semifinals. Stevens was bested by 22-year-old Khasan Khalmurzaev of Russia in the gold-medal match. He was flipped for a match-ending ippon (a decisive technique).

Stevens, a Bellevue, Wash., native, medaled in his third Olympic appearance, having finished fifth in the 2012 London Games and ninth in Beijing in 2008.

It was a landmark victory for the United States. Stevens becomes the first American male since his coach Jimmy Pedro, scored a bronze in the 2004 Athens Games, and the first male to win silver since Jason Morris captured second place in Barcelona in 1992.

Stevens had mentioned the importance of popularizing judo in the United States and commented that winning Olympic medals would help that cause. Marblehead, Mass., native Kayla Harrison helped bring prestige to the sport by winning gold in the 2012 London Games, the first for an American judoka at the Olympics.

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.