Kate Louise Howey (born 31 May 1973 in

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basi ...

, England) is a former elite British

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

. She remains the only British woman to have won two Olympic judo medals (silver at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

in Sydney, and bronze at the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

in Barcelona) and shares with fellow Olympic medalist

Karina Bryant Karina Bryant (born 27 January 1979) is a British retired elite judoka, who was active in elite senior competition in the 2000s and early 2010s. She represented Great Britain at four successive Olympics between 2000 and 2012, winning her first ...

the record of being the only British judoka to have competed at four Olympic Games.

Biography

Howey was born in

, and took up judo at the age of seven. In 1989, she became champion of Great Britain, winning the middleweight (66 kg) division at the

British Judo Championships The British Judo Championships are held annually and feature various age and weight categories to determine the British champion. The Championships are currently held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield The English Institute of Sport ...

. The following year in 1990, she won her first international medal when taking a silver medal at the

1990 European Judo Championships The 1990 European Judo Championships were held in Frankfurt, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies ...

in Frankfurt. In 1991, she won the bronze medal at the

1991 World Judo Championships The 1991 World Judo Championships were the 17th edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held in Barcelona, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , nation ...

, in Barcelona and the silver medal at the

1991 European Judo Championships The 1991 European Judo Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 16 to 19 May 1991. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 71 kg 78 kg 86 kg 95 kg +95 kg ...

in Prague. The year 1992 saw her first of four appearances at the Olympic Games. In the women's 66 kg she reached the semi finals only to lose out to eventual gold medal winner

Odalis Revé Odalis Revé Jiménez (born 15 January 1970 in Holguín) is a Cuban retired judoka. At the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as ...

, however she managed to win the repechage to claim a bronze medal. In 1993, she won her third consecutive (and fourth) British title. Howey continued to participate in most major championships, winning a World championship silver and European championship bronze in 1993 at the heavier weight of 72 kg, and two more bronze medals at the

1994 European Judo Championships The 1994 European Judo Championships were the 5th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Gdańsk, Poland on 22 May 1994. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 7 ...

and

1995 European Judo Championships The 1995 European Judo Championships were the 6th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Birmingham, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west a ...

. In 1996, Howey was selected for her second Olympic Games reaching the quarter finals were she was defeated by eventual silver medalist

Yoko Tanabe is a retired Japanese judoka. She won two Olympic silver medals in the half-heavyweight (-72 kg) division, in 1992 and 1996. She won the All-Japan judo championships is a judo tournament held every year in Japan. The men's tournament ...

of Japan. Howey recorded her best result in 1997 following a drop back down in weight category to 66 kg. At the

1997 World Judo Championships The 1997 World Judo Championships were the 20th edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held in Paris, France in 1997. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 71 kg 78 kg 86 kg 95 kg ...

in Paris, she won the gold medal after defeating Anja von Rekowski in the final. Also in 1997 she won another European bronze and was awarded the MBE for services to judo. After a seventh European Championships medal and a fifth British title in 1998, she trained at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. In 1999, she was unable to retain her World title but gained compensation with a bronze medal and the following year she won a European silver in May, before she went to her third Olympics. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

she competed in the women's 70 kg and performed superbly reaching the final where she lost out to

Sibelis Veranes Sibelis Veranes Morell (born 5 February 1974) is a Cuban judoka. At the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Ol ...

for the gold medal. In 2001, she won a silver medal at the

2001 World Judo Championships The 2001 World Judo Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held at Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany in 2001. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 66 kg 73 kg 81 k ...

, in Munich and won her sixth and final British title in 2002. Also in 2002 she was left out of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

squad in favour of Samantha Lowe and would never get the opportunity to take part in a Commonwealth Games. Howey was shocked at her omission and would likely have won gold but Lowe did go on to win gold for England. Her final major appearance was at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, where she was honored to bear the national flag at the opening ceremony. She announced her retirement from competition on 27 October 2004, having competed for 16 years. Following her retirement, she continued as a coach (Head Coach 2018) for the

British Judo Association The British Judo Association (BJA) is the governing body for the Olympic Sport of Judo in the United Kingdom. In 2019 there were 35,000 members. The BJA represents the United Kingdom internationally and is a member of the International J ...

, she coached

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. Early and personal life Born in Charlton, L ...

to silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, ending her nation's wait for an Olympic medal in the sport that had stretched back to her own silver in 2000. By contrast, having waited 12 years for Olympic medal, only 24 hours later, her now-veteran former teammate,

also won a bronze medal.BBC Sport: "London 2012: Gemma Gibbons, a profile of a judo star", 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howey, Kate 1973 births People from Andover, Hampshire Living people English female judoka Judoka at the 1992 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic judoka of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in judo Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain Team Bath athletes Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade