| Stella Umeh | |||||
| Fullname: | Stella Umeh | ||||
| Birth Date: | 27 May 1975 | ||||
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario | ||||
| Hometown: | Mississauga, Ontario | ||||
| Discipline: | WAG | ||||
| Level: | Senior International Elite | ||||
| Collegeteam: | UCLA Bruins (1994-1998) | ||||
| Module: |
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| Retired: | 1998 | ||||
| Show-Medals: | yes | ||||
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.