Portrait of Olympian and Artist Stella Umeh

When your resume reads: Olympian, three-time Canadian National Gymnastics Champion, three-time NCAA Gymnastics Champion, 10-time All-American, Cirque du Soleil performer, Emmy Award-winning reality series star, television series regular, motivational speaker, and CBC color commentator, it would appear that you’ve done it all.
Stella Umeh doesn’t think so.
“I’m really waiting for my big break; I’m waiting for that one person to discover me and put me on the map,” says 31-year-old Umeh in a recent telephone interview.
The Mississauga native didn’t get her start in gymnastics the way most Olympians do; she wasn’t a hyperactive child who was put in gymnastics classes in order to give her parents peace of mind. Her mother, Patsy, got lost while driving and stopped at the Mississauga Gymnastics Club to ask for directions. Umeh began gymnastics lessons a week later.

Gymnast, performer, actor and speaker Stella Umeh.
Unlike most gymnasts who do nothing but their sport, Umeh was also a competitive dancer for eight years while she trained and competed in elite level gymnastics.
“I didn’t eat, sleep and drink gymnastics. I was a busy little thing when I was a kid,” says Umeh, who is known in the gymnastics community for her dance ability and outspoken nature.
She says the Canadian Gymnastics Federation was not always pleased with her, despite the fact that she was their national champion from 1992 to 1994.
“Members of the Canadian gymnastics community felt that I was ‘too black’ and had an attitude when I first entered the scene,” says Umeh, who was born to a Nigerian father and Guayanese mother. “Coaches would tell me that I was bringing down the energy of the team when I was 12 years old. Judges would tell other judges that I was difficult because I didn’t sit around kissing asses all day. I was there to compete.”
Due to her outgoing nature, the Canadian Gymnastics Federation frequently targeted Umeh as a potential problem-maker on international outings.
“My room was always party central at meets, but I usually wasn’t even there,” says Umeh. “I was nailed for my hotel room getting trashed at the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, but I was off in another room.”
Although Umeh was Canada’s top gymnast heading into the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, she insists the federation maintained a close eye on her to make sure she didn’t break any rules while living in the Olympic Village.
“I really didn’t do any type of socialization until after I finished competing," says Umeh. “Not a whole lot of partying went on in the village because athletes competed at all different times and stages throughout the games, so we had to be respectful of that. In ’92 I had a crush on a 400-meter Canadian sprinter, but he didn’t compete until the second week so I had to keep my nose out of trouble in that respect.”
Most female gymnasts don’t attend the Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremonies because competition starts just two days later. Standing for seven hours during the ceremony’s proceedings is far too taxing for athletes that compete on the games’ opening weekend.
Umeh’s focus paid off. She hit all 12 of her routines and was ranked 16th in the world by the end of the competition.
“I will always remember staring at the scoreboard after we [Canada] finished the team competition and seeing my name as the top ranked individual competitor with only four teams left to compete,” says Umeh.
After reaching this gymnastic pinnacle, Umeh had difficulty adjusting to life after the Olympics.
“The Olympics was an intense experience,” says the former athlete. “It is the ultimate goal of an amateur athlete and we work our entire careers to get a shot at the games. Digesting the experience was difficult for me. It took nearly three months to emotionally come to grips with the experience. Closing ceremonies were especially difficult. They were a beautiful experience because athletes from all over the world mixed and mingled, sharing a common bond. The hard part was that it was the end of an extraordinary moment in time.”
Umeh continued to compete internationally until 1994. In total, Umeh represented Canada at three world championships, two commonwealth games, and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The 1994 Commonwealth Games were Umeh’s last competition as an elite gymnast. The games were significant to Umeh because the 1990 Commonwealth Games were Umeh’s first major international competition. Four years later, she had come full circle and won the individual all-around competition, the first Canadian to do so.
Following that victory, many members of the gymnastics community expected Umeh to continue on two more years, competing through the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Remaining an elite gymnast for two more years never crossed her mind, says Umeh.
“I didn’t love gymnastics enough to stay at home and just train after graduating from high school. I loved gymnastics, but I needed something else in my life. I considered trying for the 1996 Olympics while competing in college, but I remembered that I wasn’t in a very good mood when I was training for ’92.”