Gemma Howell

Gemma Howell

Personal information
Born	(1990-06-13) 13 June 1990 Stafford, England
Died
Occupation	Judoka
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
Sport	Judo
Weight class	‍–‍63 kg, ‍–‍70 kg
Club	Wolverhampton Judo Club
Coached by	Bill Kelly
Retired	11 December 2023
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games	R32 (2012, 2020)
World Champ.	7th (2010)
European Champ.	Gold (2022)
Commonwealth Games	Silver (2022)
Medal record Women's judo Representing Great Britain European Championships Gold medal – first place 2022 Sofia ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tel Aviv ‍–‍70 kg IJF Grand Slam Silver medal – second place 2022 Tel Aviv ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2019 Baku ‍–‍70 kg Bronze medal – third place 2019 Brasilia ‍–‍70 kg Bronze medal – third place 2020 Paris ‍–‍70 kg IJF Grand Prix Gold medal – first place 2019 Budapest ‍–‍70 kg Gold medal – first place 2019 Zagreb ‍–‍70 kg Silver medal – second place 2016 Tbilisi ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2012 Baku ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2012 Qingdao ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2014 Zagreb ‍–‍63 kg Bronze medal – third place 2017 Antalya ‍–‍70 kg Bronze medal – third place 2017 Cancún ‍–‍70 kg Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tunis ‍–‍70 kg Bronze medal – third place 2018 Hohhot ‍–‍70 kg European U23 Championships Bronze medal – third place 2008 Zagreb ‍–‍57 kg Bronze medal – third place 2010 Sarajevo ‍–‍57 kg World Juniors Championships Bronze medal – third place 2008 Bangkok ‍–‍57 kg European Junior Championships Bronze medal – third place 2008 Warsaw ‍–‍57 kg Representing England Commonwealth Games Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham ‍–‍63 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF	{{#statements:P4559}}
JudoInside.com	{{#statements:P2767}}
Updated on 12 December 2023

Gemma Howell (born 13 June 1990) is a British retired judoka from Stafford, England, who competed at the Olympic Games.

Judo career

Howell came to prominence after winning the lightweight division at the British Judo Championships in 2006. As well as successfully defending the title in 2007 and 2008, she won medals at the 2008 World Junior and European Junior Championships. In 2010, she won a medal at the European U23 Championships before winning a fourth British title in 2011.

In 2012, Howell was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She competed in the Women's 63 kg, but was defeated in the first round. The following year she won her fifth and last British Championship, this time at the heavier weight of half-middleweight. In 2014, Howell took three medals at the Heart of England Championships, the Zagreb Grand Prix and the European Open in Glasgow. She also represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, competing in the women's 70 kg event.

In May 2019, Howell was selected to compete at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus. She won the silver medal in her event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel.

In 2022, Howell achieved her best success to date after winning the gold medal at the 2022 European Judo Championships in Sofia. Competing in the women's 63 kg she defeated Laura Fazliu in the final. Following this major success she then went on to win a silver medal in the 63 kg category at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

In December 2023, she announced her retirement after a very successful career that also included eleven surgeries for injuries.

External links

• Gemma Howell at the British Judo Association (archived)
• Gemma Howell at the European Judo Union
• Gemma Howell at The-Sports.org
• Gemma Howell on Twitter