Gemma Gibbons

Gemma Jeanette Gibbons (born 6 January 1987) is a British judoka. Competing in the women's ‍–‍70 kg category, she has represented England and Great Britain at Junior, U-23, 'B' and Senior level.

Gemma Gibbons

Personal information
Full name	Gemma Jeanette Gibbons
Born	(1987-01-06) 6 January 1987 (age 37)[1] Greenwich, London, England[1]
Home town	Edinburgh, Scotland[2][3]
Occupation	Judoka
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Judo
Weight class	–78 kg
Club	Metro Judo Club British Judo Performance Institute UEL Sports
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games	(2012)
World Champ.	7th (2015)
European Champ.	5th (2016)
Commonwealth Games	(2014)
Medal record Women's judo Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 2012 London ‍–‍78 kg IJF Grand Slam 2013 Moscow ‍–‍78 kg 2015 Tokyo ‍–‍78 kg IJF Grand Prix 2013 Düsseldorf ‍–‍78 kg 2015 Ulaanbaatar ‍–‍78 kg 2013 Rijeka ‍–‍78 kg 2015 Tashkent ‍–‍78 kg 2015 Qingdao ‍–‍78 kg 2015 Jeju ‍–‍78 kg European U23 Championships 2009 Antalya ‍–‍70 kg Summer Universiade 2009 Belgrade ‍–‍70 kg Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow ‍–‍78 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF	1920
JudoInside.com	22729
Updated on 28 May 2023

Early and personal life

Born in Charlton, London, Gibbons began practising Judo at six years of age with the Metro Judo Club in Blackheath, London.^[4] She attended Westwood College (now Harris Academy Falconwood).^[5] Gibbons represented Greenwich in judo at the London Youth Games.^[6] She is also the 2013 patron for London Youth Games^[7] and was inducted into the London Youth Games Hall of Fame in 2012.

Gemma studied at the London Leisure College, the sports, leisure and travel department of Greenwich Community College, between 2004 and 2006 on 'BTEC National Award' and 'BTEC National Certificate in Sports and Exercise Science' courses. Starting her degree in Sports Performance at the University of Bath, Gibbons continued to practice Judo, winning a Full Blues award in 2007 from the University.

In June 2013 she married Scottish judoka Euan Burton at The Caves in Edinburgh. The couple also now reside in the city.^[2][3] She subsequently put her studies for a physical education teaching degree on hold, to concentrate on working towards competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.^[2]

Natalie Powell was selected ahead of Gibbons to represent GB at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[8]

Career

Gibbons started training with the Metro Judo Club, and after training with UELSports at the University of East London, is now a member of the British Judo Performance Institute.

Gibbons won the BBC Radio London Young Sports Woman of the Year Award 2006.^[9] Shortly after graduating, she won bronze in the under-70 kg class at the 2009 World University Games.^[10]

Kate Howey, Performance Development Squad Coach for 2012 stated that Gibbons "is one of our best medal hopes for judo" in the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.^[11] In 2012 and ranked 42nd in the world at the time, at the 2012 London Olympics Gibbons won the silver medal, losing to Kayla Harrison in the -78 kg event.^[12] Television coverage of the Olympics showed footage of a teary-eyed Gibbons looking upwards and mouthing "I love you mum" after winning her semifinal match, thus guaranteeing a medal. Gibbons had lost her mother to leukaemia years earlier. The moment became an iconic image of the Games, featuring by the media in several compilations and montages connected with the event.^[13]

Achievements

Year[9]	Date	Tournament[9]	Place[9]	Weight class
2003		British National Junior Age Championships	1st
2004		Junior European Championships	5th
2004		Junior A (Austria)	3rd
2004		Junior A Germany	3rd
2004		Junior A Russia	3rd
2004		Senior British Closed	2nd
2004		Junior British Open	1st
2004		National (British) U-18	1st
2005		Junior British Closed	1st
2005		Junior British Open	1st
2005		Arlon Junior B	1st
2005		Junior A Germany	3rd
2005		Junior A Poland	3rd
2005		Junior A France	3rd
2005		U-23 European Championships	7th
2005		Junior European Championships	5th
2005		Matsumae Cup	2nd
2006		Elite Performance Junior Trials	1st
2006		World University Games	5th
2006		German Super World Cup	5th
2007		Slovenian 'B' Tournament	3rd
2007		Turkish 'B' Tournament	2nd
2007		World University Games	7th
2007		Tallinn World Cup	7th
2008		GB World Cup	3rd
2008		U-23 European Championships	5th
2009		English Senior Open	2nd
2009		Tre Torri International	3rd
2009		World University Games	3rd
2009		Swedish Open	2nd
2009		U-23 European Championships	3rd
2010		Sofia World Cup	5th
2010		British Open	7th
2010		Orenburg European Cup	1st
2012		Games of the XXX Olympiad, London	2nd
2012		British National Judo Championships	1st

See also

• Judo in the United Kingdom

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gemma Gibbons". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
2. "London 2012 remembered: Gemma Gibbons: I have moved away and put my degree on hold to focus on Rio 2016". Daily Telegraph. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
3. "Gemma Gibbons: the secrets behind her wedding dress". Hello. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
4. "2012 Training Camp - 2012 Office - UEL". www.uel.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
5. "Hurstmere Host Festival". Newsshopper.co.uk. 11 June 2006.
6. "Hall of Fame". London Youth Games. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
7. "Biggest Ever Games In 2013". London Youth Games. 25 December 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
8. "Rio 2016: Team GB pick Natalie Powell ahead of Gemma Gibbons". BBC Sport. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Gemma Gibbons". Team Bath. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
11. "The gold rush". Timesonline.co.uk. 11 June 2006.^{[dead link]}
12. "Gibbons grabs silver after memorable judo run". Espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
13. "London 2012: Gemma Gibbons, a profile of a judo star". BBC Sport. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2015.

External links

• Gemma Gibbons at the International Judo Federation
• Gemma Gibbons at JudoInside.com
• Gemma Gibbons at AllJudo.net (in French)
• Gemma Gibbons at Olympics.com
• Gemma Gibbons at Olympedia
• Gemma Gibbons at The-Sports.org
• 2012 Olympic −78 kg gold medal match: Kayla Harrison (United States) vs. Gemma Gibbons (United Kingdom) (International Olympic Committee on YouTube)