Stella Umeh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Stella Umeh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Toronto, Ontario | May 27, 1975|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Mississauga, Ontario | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | UCLA Bruins (1994-1998) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Level | Senior International Elite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Notable work | Varekai |
Stella Umeh (born 27 May 1975) is a Canadian former artistic gymnast and current actress and performer. She competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics placing 16th in the all-around. [1] She is of Guyanese and Nigerian descent. [2]
Umeh's first big international meet was at the 1989 American Cup in Fairfax, Virginia where she finished fifth. [3] She then competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games but was originally an alternate. [4] She won a gold medal with the Canadian team. [5] She competed at the American Cup again in 1991, but placed 8th. [6] She went to the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She finished 17th in the all-around. [7] In 1992, Stella started her season at the American Cup in Orlando, Florida, USA and finished 7th. [8] In April, she competed at the 1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Paris, France. She qualified to Vault and Beam finals, but placed 8th and 5th. [9] Later, she qualified to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She finished 16th in the all-around, and 10th with the Canadian team. [10] In 1993, she went to Worlds and placed 15th AA and 8th in the FX final. In 1994, she went to the 1994 Commonwealth Games and won 2 golds and 2 silvers, as well as placing 4th and 5th in Floor and Beam finals.
In 1994, she accepted a college scholarship to UCLA and started attending the school in 1994. [1]
Throughout her four years at college, she won three golds, three silvers and one bronze at the NCAA Championships. She was twice the Pac-12 conference all-around champion. [11]
Stella studied Theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the hopes of becoming an actress. [12] In 2000, she joined Cirque du Soleil and performed Mystère in Las Vegas. In 2002, she performed in Fire Within and then in Varekai as a triple trapeze in 2003. [13] She played small roles in Ghostly Encounters and Delroy Kincaid. She recently had a leading role in a stage play called, 'Pinteresque' which will be in the SummerWorks Performance Festival. [14]
Currently, Stella lives in Australia.
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