Team GB judoka Gemma Gibbons sent shockwaves through the sport as she became British Judo’s first Olympic medallist for 12 years with a Silver at the ExCel Arena.

And in emotional scenes at the end of her semi-final, she dedicated her success to her late mother, who died eight years ago. “I love you Mum,” she said as she burst into tears. That win guaranteed her at least the Silver.

She could not quite transform that into Gold in the final against American Kaylor Harrison but Gibbons more than surpassed expectations

On her Olympic debut, Gibbons, 25, from Greenwich – who only moved up to the -78kg category in May – surprised number 14 seed and former European bronze medallist Yahima Ramirez of Portugal by ippon in the opening round.  

In the second round Gibbons (pictured with her medal above, far left) – who weighed in at 73kg, five kg under the 78kg limit – sensed another scalp against Mongolia’s formidable number seven seed and reigning Asian champion Lkhamdegd Purevjargal.  

With the scores level at a yuko a piece Gibbons launched a last-ditch attempt for a score and incredibly succeeded with a second yuko taking her through to the quarter-final.  

In the form of her life Gibbons, whose best career result previously was a World Cup silver medal, faced number nine seed and 2009 world champion Marhinde Verkerk of the Netherlands.  

As the world-class opposition kept coming Gibbons continued to raise her game with British Judo’s last Olympic medallist Kate Howey matside coaching her towards emulating her own Sydney 2000 result. 

With nothing to separate the pair the hugely inspired Gibbons, who had a capacity crowd out of their seats, found a burst of energy with 10 seconds left to fire herself into the semi-final as she caught Verkerk for a waza-ari.   

Gibbons bowed on to the mat to face reigning world champion Audrey Tcheumeo of France.  

A heroic effort from Gibbons saw her force the contest into golden score and the crowd erupted as she sealed an historic place in the Olympic final by ippon to guarantee at least a silver medal.  

At that point Gibbons mouthed her tribute to her Mum. And then she prepared for Harrison in the final.

Harrison, the 2009 world champion, who was aiming to win her country’s first Olympic judo title, edged ahead with a yuko score and Gibbons, despite summoning every ounce of energy from her body, went a second yuko down. 

A delighted Gibbons said: “I always thought it was possible, otherwise I wouldn’t have been training full-time up until this point.  

“I know that I wasn’t a good bet for a lot of other people, I’m just really happy that I’ve proven I’m capable of succeeding.  

“I was a big underdog. I haven’t fought at this weight too many times so I had nothing to lose. I was a little nervous to start but in general I was pretty relaxed. It’s all come together for me at the best possible time.”

James Austin faced Anai of Japan in the opening round of the men’s -100kg category. Austin fought well but went behind following three shidos and also lost to a last minute ippon to exit the competition.

(Image courtesy of IJF – www.ijf.org)