| Nationality: | British (English) |
| Birth Date: | 11 October 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Corbridge, Northumberland |
| Country: | Great Britain |
| Weight Class: | –61 kg |
| Club: | Fairholme |
| Olympics Rank: | 1 |
| Olympics Year: | 1988 |
| Olympics Weight: | Women's |
| Worlds Rank: | 1 |
| Worlds Year: | 1986 |
| Worlds Year2: | 1987 |
| Regionals Type: | EU |
| Regionals Rank: | 1 |
| Regionals Year: | 1984 |
| Regionals Weight: | Women's 56 kg |
| Regionals Year2: | 1986 |
| Regionals Weight2: | Women's 61 kg |
| Regionals Year3: | 1988 |
| Commonwealth Rank: | 1 |
| Commonwealth Year: | 1990 |
| Updated: | 18 June 2023 |
Diane Bell (born 11 October 1963) is a British former judoka. She won the 56–61 kg event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but at the time women's judo was still a demonstration sport, so unlike the men Bell did not enter the list of Olympic medalists in judo. She also won two World Judo Championships, a Commonwealth Games gold and three European Judo Championships.
Bell won the World Judo Championships in 1986 and 1987,[1] and the European Championships in 1984, 1986 and 1988. Bell is Britain's most successful judoka at the European Judo Championships. In total, she has won 3 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals.[1] [2] In 1986, she won the 56–61 kg event at the 1986 Commonwealth Games; the event was a demonstration sport.[3]
In 1988, she won the 56–61 kg event at the 1988 Summer Olympics; judo was a demonstration sport at the Games.[1] Bell represented England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, and won a gold medal in the 61kg half-middleweight.[4] [5] Bell beat New Zealander Donna Guy-Halkyard in the final.[6] Bell also competed at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.[1]
In addition to her international titles, she is a four times champion of Great Britain, winning the lightweight division at the British Judo Championships in 1982 and 1983 and the light-middleweight division in 1992 and 1994.[7]
In 1997, Bell took up coaching.[1] At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Bell cut Deborah Allan's hair on the weighing scales after Allan was found to be 400g over the weight limit for her event.[8]