Cristina Chapuli Egido (born 18 January 1975) is a retired Spanish rhythmic gymnast. She was World champion in 1991. The generation of gymnasts that she was part of is known by the nickname "Primeras Chicas de Oro".

Biography

Cristina started her sport career at the Club Atlético Montemar in her native Alicante, a club that saw the rise of other prominent gymnasts such as Carolina Pascual, Marta Baldó and Estela Giménez. In 1989 she was called up by the Spanish national team to join the junior group, trained by Rosa Menor, Paqui Maneus,

Cathy Xaudaró Catherine Xaudaró Apellániz (born 30 April 1960) is a Spanish former Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She won a bronze medal at Worlds in 1975. Career Although she was born in the Philippines, due to martial law around 1970 she moved w ...

and Berta Veiga. In the Junior European Championships in Tenerife, the group made up of

Carmen Acedo Carmen Acedo Jorge (born February 10, 1975 in Lérida, Spain) is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast from Spain. Biography Acedo trained with Rosa Menor as a junior at club Patricia. She was first selected for the Spanish junior group in 1 ...

, Noelia Fernández, Ruth Goñi, Eider Mendizábal, Montserrat Martín and Gemma Royo, with Cristina and

Diana Martín Diana Martín (born 1 April 1981 in Madrid) is a Spanish athlete. She competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2012 Summer Olympics, placing 21st with a time of 9:35.77, a personal best. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics The 201 ...

as substitutes, won bronze in the group All-Around. In late 1989 she was incorporated into the senior group, training about eight hours a day at the Moscardó Gymnasium in Madrid under the direction of Emilia Boneva and Ana Roncero, who since 1982 had been national group coach and head coach. She would also live with all the members of the team in a house in La Moraleja. In 1990 Chapuli would be a substitute gymnast for the team, remaining in Madrid training as she was not called to competitions such as the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

or the World Cup. Of the four substitutes in the team that year, only two could travel to the competitions. The starting team that year was Beatriz Barral, Lorea Elso, Teresa Fuster, Montserrat Martín, Arancha Marty and Vanesa Muñiz, with Marta Aberturas and Gemma Royo being substitutes. Débora Alonso was also part of the team, but like Cristina she was not called to the competitions that year. In 1991 she a substitute gymnast, the two exercises for groups were six ribbons for the single-apparatus exercise and three balls and three ropes for the mixed-apparatus one. Their ribbon exercise used " Tango Jalousie", composed by Jacob Gade, for the music, while their mixed-apparatus one used the song "Campanas" by Víctor Bombi. To choreograph the dance steps of the six ribbons exercise, they had the help of Javier "Poty" Castillo, then a dancer with the National Ballet, although the team's usual choreographer was the Bulgarian Georgi Neykov. Before the World Championships, they won gold at the Karlsruhe tournament (ahead of the Soviet Union and Bulgaria) and three bronzes at the Gymnastic Masters in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. On 12 October 1991, the Spanish team (consisting of Montserrat Martín, Débora Alonso, Isabel Gómez Pérez, Lorea Elso, Teresa Fuster and Gemma Royo, with Cristina and Marta Aberturas as the substitutes) won gold in the all-around at the World Championships in Athens. This medal was described by the media as historic, since it was the first time that Spain had won the World Championship in rhythmic gymnastics. The next day, they would also win silver in both of the two apparatus finals. After this achievement, at the end of 1991 they would tour in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. She retired at the end of the year. After Boneva's death on 20 September 2019, Cristina and other former national gymnasts gathered to pay tribute to her during the Euskalgym held on 16 November 2019. The event took place before 8,500 attendees at the Bilbao Exhibition Center de Baracaldo and was followed by a dinner in Boneva's honor.

Legacy and influence

The national rhythmic gymnastics group of 1991 won the first world title for Spanish rhythmic gymnastics at the World Championships in Athens. It was the first time a rhythmic gymnastics team from a Western country had prevailed over those from Eastern European countries. Reviews of this milestone appear in books such as ''Gimnasia rítmica deportiva: aspectos y evolución'' (1995) by Aurora Fernández del Valle, Enredando en la memoria (2015) by

Paloma del Río Paloma del Río Cañadas (born 4 April 1960) is a Spanish journalist. She covers rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, figure skating, and equestrian competitions for Televisión Española (TVE). She has held various positions in TVE's sports ...

and ''Pinceladas de rítmica'' (2017) by Montse and Manel Martín.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapuli, Cristina 1975 births Living people Spanish rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Sportspeople from Alicante