Stella Umeh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stella Umeh |
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| Full name | Stella Umeh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Canada |
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| Born | May 27, 1975 Toronto, Ontario |
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| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | UCLA Bruins (1994-1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Notable work
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Varekai | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stella Umeh is a talented Canadian athlete. She was born on May 27, 1975. Stella was an artistic gymnast and later became an actress and performer. She competed for Canada in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Her family has roots in Guyana and Nigeria.
Contents
Stella Umeh's Gymnastics Journey
Stella Umeh began her international gymnastics career at the 1989 American Cup. This event took place in Fairfax, Virginia. She showed great skill and finished in fifth place.
Early Competitions
In 1990, Stella went to the 1990 Commonwealth Games. She was originally an alternate, meaning she was a backup. However, she got to compete and helped the Canadian team win a gold medal!
She competed in the American Cup again in 1991. She placed 8th that year. Later in 1991, Stella participated in the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. This big event was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She finished 17th in the all-around competition.
Olympic and World Championships
The year 1992 was very busy for Stella. She started at the American Cup in Orlando, Florida, USA, finishing 7th. In April, she competed at the 1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Paris, France. She made it to the finals for both Vault and Beam. She placed 8th on Vault and 5th on Beam.
Later in 1992, Stella qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. This was a huge achievement! She finished 16th in the all-around. Her Canadian team placed 10th overall.
In 1993, Stella competed at the World Championships again. She finished 15th in the all-around. She also made it to the Floor Exercise final, where she placed 8th.
Commonwealth Games Success
Stella returned to the 1994 Commonwealth Games with great success. She won two gold medals and two silver medals. She also placed 4th in the Floor final and 5th in the Beam final.
College Gymnastics Career
In 1994, Stella received a scholarship to attend UCLA. She joined the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.
During her four years at college, Stella continued to shine. She won three gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal at the NCAA Championships. These championships are a big deal for college athletes. She was also named the Pac-12 conference all-around champion twice. This means she was the best all-around gymnast in her conference for two years!
Life After Gymnastics
After her gymnastics career, Stella decided to pursue her passion for acting.
Acting and Performing
Stella studied Theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 2000, she joined Cirque du Soleil, a famous entertainment company. She performed in their show called Mystère in Las Vegas.
In 2002, she was part of Fire Within. Then, in 2003, she performed in Varekai as a triple trapeze artist. Stella also had small acting roles in TV shows like Ghostly Encounters and a project called Delroy Kincaid. More recently, she played a main role in a stage play called 'Pinteresque'. This play was part of the SummerWorks Performance Festival.
Currently, Stella Umeh lives in Australia.
