Grace Umelo probably gained her first international experience in 1996 when she won the gold medal at the African Championships in Yaoundé with a width of 6.13 m. The following year she won the Junior African Championships in Ibadan, home with 6.25 m, and in 1999 she took part in the Africa Games in Johannesburg for the first time , where she also won the gold medal with a jump of 6.60 m. After several years without documented competitions, she started again at the Africa Games in Abuja in 2003 , where she won the silver medal behind her compatriot Esther Aghatise with 6.56 m and then finished sixth at the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad with 6.14 m. In 2004 she contested her last competition at the Nigerian Championships in Abuja, which she won with 6.40 m and then ended her career as a track and field athlete at the age of 26.
In 2004 Umelo became Nigerian champion in the long jump.
Personal best
100 meters: 11.38 s (+1.7 m / s), March 21, 1997 in Benin City
Long jump: 6.60 m (0.0 m / s), July 31, 1999 in Lagos