Even in an sport as tough as judo, there are few fighters more resilient than Gemma Gibbons. At London 2012 she left barely a dry eye in the house when she defied the pain of a finger fractured in three places to win a shock Olympic silver medal, before gazing up to the heavens and whispering four words to her mother, Jeanette, who had died of leukaemia when Gemma was 17: “I love you, Mum.” Since that moment Gibbons has been battered by injuries and setbacks. Yet as the Rio Olympics swoop into view she remains convinced she can climb a step higher on the podium.
The 29-year-old will have a better idea of her chances after the European Championships, which begin in Kazan, Russia, on Thursday. Eight of the top 10 players in the world in her 78kg weight class will be there and to make matters even harder for Gibbons, she has just recovered from a knee injury that has left her unable to fight since February. Her target? A medal at the minimum.
“I have not had the best preparation,” she says, “but I’m used to that. If I go there and don’t get on the podium I will be disappointed.”
It takes some time, and an impressive memory, for Gibbons to detail her injuries since London 2012. Among them were a broken nose, a broken wrist, and two broken thumbs in separate incidents. She has also had shoulder surgery and torn ankle ligaments on two occasions. Then, more recently, a problem with her knee.
“Towards the end of the year, I got some of the best results of my career and then I hurt my knee, and it’s like ‘dammit, why now?’” she says. “But you can’t look back. It is what is. Judo is a hard physical sport, so you know injuries are going to come. You just hope they don’t arrive at vital times.”
When Gibbons won Olympic silver, she was ranked 42nd in the world. Despite her injuries she is now up to 13th having reached the quarter-finals of last year’s world championships before a controversial loss to Anamari Velensek of Slovenia.
“I am definitely a stronger and more rounded athlete now,” she says. “I had a brilliant day in 2012 and I fought out of my skin, but back then I would have got on the rostrum maybe one time out of 10, but if you put me in that competition now I would probably do it five times out of 10. I’ve beaten many of the top players since 2012. Yes, I’m a bit older, but I know and believe I can do better in Rio and others do, too.”
Gibbons cites moving to Edinburgh, where she trains with her husband and coach, Euan Burton, who represented Great Britain in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, as being the major factor in her improvement. “There’s definitely been a couple of moments in training where he’s said something about my judo and I’ve thought: ‘He’s my husband, he shouldn’t be talking to me like that,’” she says, “and I have to remember that’s he’s the coach and if he wants to talk to me about that he can.
“That said, I’m surprised how well it’s worked out; 99% of the time we have no problems and I think he’s the best in the country so I wouldn’t want to be coached by anyone else.”
Gibbons is still wrestling with what she will do post-Rio. While she has signed up for a PGCE in physical education at Edinburgh University at the end of August, she does not completely rule out a more intriguing possibility: mixed martial arts. “My husband loves it so I have ended up watching a lot of boxing and especially UFC since moving to Edinburgh,” she says. “So never say never, although I would have to see which opportunities come about.”
Gibbons acknowledges that the chances of following Ronda Rousey, who won a 70kg bronze medal in judo at the Beijing Olympics, into the UFC are slim. “A couple of years when Ronda was coming through it was definitely tempting, but I am not sure I could take a punch to the face if I’m honest,” she says, laughing.
“If I’d done it as a supplement to my judo training in the past eight to 10 years it would definitely be a path I would follow. But the fact I have barely put on a pair of boxing gloves means I would have to put in four years of hard work to get to where I want to be and at the age I am, and with the injuries I have had, I’m not sure it would be possible.”
That news will probably come as a relief to prospective future opponents. In the meantime, Gibbons is glad she can continue to inspire more women and girls into sport. “A lot of people have come up to me and said either themselves or their daughters have been inspired to take up sport because what they saw at 2012,” she says. “I don’t consider myself a role model, but that’s really nice to hear and I’ll do anything to encourage them.
“It’s really important girls to know they can be strong and still be girly, or a tomboy, or whatever they want to be. You can love doing your nails and being strong at the same time.”
