If you want an idea of just what Olympic judoka Gemma Howell put her body through over the course of her career, consider that she spent more time with her physio than her coach.
The 33-year-old from Stafford competed at London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 and was crowned European champion last year.
Gemma Howell career
But after 11 surgeries to her knees, neck and most recently her arm, Howell has accepted that her body is telling her it is time to stop, calling time on her career and giving up on a dream of a third Olympics. It is a decision she almost made a year ago, only to realise she was not yet ready. Now, as much as it pains her, she knows the time is right.
“Announcing it was a weight off my shoulders, which is really reassuring because I remember last year when I thought I wanted to stop and I’d never cried so much in my life, it was insane,” she said. “I thought it can’t be the right thing to do if this is how upset this is making me. At that point, my bicep tendon hadn’t snapped yet so my body hadn’t said no at that point so I could keep going. “This year, I really felt like I’d already reduced my judo volume down to one session a day and still had an overuse injury. I couldn’t reduce my number of sessions down anymore and still compete at the top level. “Next year, when it sinks in and my lifestyle does a complete 180, when it is very different to what it has been for as long as I can remember, it’s going to hit home. I’m expecting tears.”
Gemma Howell post judo retirement
Fortunately for Howell, her post-judo career is not a case of stepping into the unknown. She has always planned to go into teaching, and had already completed one semester of a PGCE prior to reversing her first retirement decision. Studying at the University of Wolverhampton and teaching at Meole Brace school in Shrewsbury, Howell has a further two semesters to get through to qualify as a maths teacher. It will be a very different experience, and Howell knows that adjusting to her new life will take time. She said: “I’ve always been really sure that I want to be a teacher after judo, it’s been another dream of mine but slightly different to getting to the Olympics as a dream. “I’m as prepared as I could be, I think I’ve done everything I can but it’s still going to be a case of fitting in the gym after work, rather than it being the main part of my day. If I go back to my club and do some judo, I’m going to miss that feeling of being really fit. We’re in the best shape of our lives going into competitions and sometimes you get that buzz. I’m not ever going to get that ever again because I can’t get that fit without training full-time. “It’s kind of sad, that’s going to take some getting used to. When I go for a run, my times are going to be slower. It will take time to get my head around. I can’t change that, but it’s ok, it just doesn’t feel ok just yet.” Reflecting on her career, the European title that Howell won in Sofia in 2022 is an obvious highlight, as was qualifying for the Olympics on two separate occasions. The first of those was in London, with Howell’s excitement at selection getting her into a spot of bother immediately.
She recalled: “I feel really lucky that the home Games fell during my judo career. The whole buzz around the country was incredible. There was support everywhere we went. My auntie was driving around with pictures of me in my kit from kitting out day on the side of a convertible BMW. Everyone was so proud. “I got so excited when I found out I’d been selected that I put a tweet out, I hadn’t read all the small print that said don’t tell anyone yet because it’s not been made official. “A newspaper had already posted my tweet to say how happy I was. We got an email straight after saying you shouldn’t be telling people, it’s not official. I deleted it but you know what social media is like, it’s already out there. I put out another tweet saying Oops! “It had been a dream. I still remember the kitting out day, my mum and sister came up with me. I’d always dreamed of Team GB kit so to have it myself was amazing.” For Howell, 2024 will be a completely new experience, saying goodbye to the sport she loves once and for all. But after everything she has put herself through, there will be no regrets.
Sportsbeat 2023