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| Full name | Stella Umeh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1975-05-27)May 27, 1975 (age 50) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | UCLA Bruins (1994-1998) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Notable work | Varekai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stella Umeh (born 27 May 1975) is a Canadian formerartistic gymnast and currentactress andperformer. She competed at the1992 Summer Olympics placing 16th in the all-around.[1] She is ofGuyanese andNigerian descent.[2]
Umeh's first big international meet was at the 1989 American Cup inFairfax,Virginia where she finished fifth.[3] She then competed at the1990 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 the1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships inIndianapolis, Indiana, USA. She finished 17th in the all-around.[7] In 1992, Stella started her season at the American Cup inOrlando, Florida, USA and finished 7th.[8] In April, she competed at the1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships inParis, France. She qualified to Vault and Beam finals, but placed 8th and 5th.[9] Later, she qualified to the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona, 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 the1994 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 toUCLA and started attending the school in 1994.[1]
Throughout her four years at college, she won three golds, three silvers and one bronze at theNCAA Championships. She was twice thePac-12 conference all-around champion.[11]
Stella studied Theatre at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in the hopes of becoming an actress.[12] In 2000, she joinedCirque du Soleil and performedMystère inLas Vegas. In 2002, she performed inFire Within and then inVarekai as a triple trapeze in 2003.[13] She played small roles inGhostly 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 inAustralia.
