The need to revive morale after what Kate Howey admitted had been a "disastrous week" for British judo gave the country’s most consistent fighter of recent years added impetus to win an Olympic silver medal yesterday.

Howey lost the middleweight final to Sibelis Veranes, the world champion, in a bout in which the Cuban threw her opponent early on and then clung on for victory, despite receiving a couple of passivity points.

Britain have reached an Olympic judo final on seven occasions since 1972, and have still to win the elusive gold. However, it is more important that Howey’s victory has restored confidence that this team can succeed, and also to ensure adequate lottery funding in the future.

There were fears yesterday that after the cluster of disappointing defeats and the controversy over Debbie Allan being disqualified for failing to make the weight, that Britain would return home without a medal. This occurred at Atlanta, breaking a sequence of success at the Games.

The 27-year-old Howey from Andover said afterwards: "I did feel an extra responsibility to get a medal because I am the old one in the team. I hoped that Graeme Randall, as reigning world champion, would do it but that was not to be."

Howey's consistency has been extraordinary. Since she first fought for Britain in 1989, she has won at least one medal every year, except for 1996, either in the Olympics, world or European championships.

She admitted she nearly gave up the sport after Atlanta but, after two months, realised that she would miss the sport too much. "Now there are young whipper-snappers coming at my heels but I am definitely not retiring. I would like to go on to the 2004 Olympics."

Howey, who has been involved in judo since she was seven, is renowned for her athletic prowess. Weighing 70kg, she can run 100 metres in a little over 12sec and is so strong that she can rest a 155kg weight behind her head and do a series of squats.

She has been a fighter since she was born with the umbilical cord round her neck. She survived that and has been surviving ever since. In her first fight yesterday, against Daniela Krukower of Argentina, Howey dislocated her little finger but then reset it herself on the mat. "The incident made me really angry and I lost my temper," she said. She quickly dumped her opponent twice for victory.

In the next bout she met Edith Bosch, of The Netherlands, who had beaten Howey earlier this year; this time the Briton got the decision. In the semi-final, Howey faced Ursula Martin, of Spain, who beat the Briton in the European final in May.

Howey got a lead but seemed to be losing momentum with just over a minute left. She went into ground-work to gain time and then found herself in a dominant position and rolled her opponent over, forcing the Spaniard to submit to a straight arm-lock to prevent her elbow being dislocated.

This took Howey through to a contest against Sibelis Veranes, of Cuba, the world champion, in the bout for the gold medal. Howey had lost their previous contest on a split decision in Birmingham last year and, after conceding a throw yesterday, never really looked like upsetting her opponent. She said: "It is always a scrap with the Cubans."

Diane Bell, Britain's women’s coach, added: "I always thought the medals would come. There is so much talent in the team but we needed this one. However, the champagne will remain on ice until after Karina Bryant, the heavyweight, fights on Friday."