Gemma Howell hoping sacrifices will add up to world glory

She just loves the sport too much.

“Even when I think I am going to be finished in judo, I won’t be,” smiles Howell.

There was never any real danger of Howell, who has battled back from 10 major surgeries, calling it quits after enjoying the best year of her career in 2022, when she became European champion and won silver at the Commonwealth Games.

But a winter spent rehabbing a shoulder injury, while working through her teacher training course, helped clarify the 32-year-old’s ambitions.

“I dabbled in my maths PGCE until Christmas and then paused it because I realised I need to carry on doing judo while I can, while my body is still together,” she explained. “I definitely missed it too much. There wasn’t time to do two full-time things. There were not enough hours in the day.

“My father is a maths teacher, my brother and sister are maths teachers, their partners are maths teachers. I feel like it is in my blood!

“It is still the plan to go back and finish my training. But now it is judo. I want to give it everything.”

Tomorrow, Howell will be giving it everything in Doha when she competes in the under-63kg category at the World Championships.

The Olympics remain the biggest dream, just as they have since her first session at Wolverhampton Judo Club, aged eight. But a medal at the worlds would be almost as precious.

“I don’t have one yet and it is still a big ambition,” says Howell, who grew up in Stafford but now lives in Telford. “Obviously, Paris is the big picture, coming round fast. The short, three-year cycle from Tokyo does make a big difference.”

It is no exaggeration to says Howell is one of Britain’s more extraordinary sportspeople. She once injured her leg so badly she was told she might lose it yet despite all the pain judo has inflicted upon her, including reconstructive surgery to both knees, she has kept coming back for more.

Chats with Howell are, unsurprisingly, never dull. On this occasion she talks frankly about ADHD, the condition she was eventually diagnosed with aged 22 but has lived with for much longer.

“It was my mom who made me go to the doctors and when I got the diagnosis everyone was like: ‘We knew, Gemma!’. They were not surprised one bit,” she says.

Howell, who speaks regularly in schools around the region, is keen to be an inspiration to youngsters affected by the negative stigma often attached.

“You have the challenges that come with it,” she says. “But it is also like a superpower. I really don’t believe I would have got the results I have without it. I definitely channelled it in the right way.

“It probably saved my family, my parents, that I could put all my energy into the mat. My poor coach, Bill Kelly at Wolves Judo Club, could deal with it instead. All my questions!

“I like to talk about it because I do think it can be given a bad label sometimes and it is not accurate.

“It is not always simply that the naughty kid at school has ADHD. It is genuinely the fact my head goes a million miles an hour and I need something to distract me.”

Judo has proven an excellent tool in that regard but there are times, particularly in the build-up to competition, when Howell requires other diversions.

“Nerves have always been a big thing for me,” she says. “When I was younger I would cry at the start of a cross country race but I have learned to cope better.

“I don’t want to be thinking about the world championships three weeks out. Even if that is walking the dog, or baking a cake. It is about forgetting about it, until I need to.

“I have a lot of trust in my coach because even if I’m not thinking about it, I know he has, inside out and upside down. I have complete trust in what I am doing.”

It was Howell’s national coach, Jamie Johnson, who suggested at the start of last year she drop down to 63kgs from 70, the weight at which she had competed for most of her career.

While the move helped deliver her best season yet, only now with the work of a nutritionist has Howell found the right balance between competitive and lifestyle happiness.

“Last year I struggled mentally with 63s, because I felt like I lived on a diet,” she says. “I couldn’t have a week off after a competition. If I did that I would bounce right back up to 70 kilos and it felt like I was starting again.

“I’ve worked with the nutritionist and now I am eating more but sitting lighter. It is a win-win. I am living happier and can concentrate on training, rather than worry what the scales are going to say in the morning.”

With competition taking place on a single day, judo is among the most unforgiving of sports. Just one mistake can wipe out months of work in seconds.

Yet Howell, stronger for all her experience and hungry as ever, is in a good place.

“I don’t feel any pressure heading into the worlds,” she says. “I am not seeded on the world ranking list because I missed half the year of competitions.

“But I know I am capable. I have beaten the top players in the world so I just need to do it in the day. That makes it more exciting.”