Denisse López Sing (born December 8, 1976) is a retired

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

gymnast. She was the first gymnast from Mexico ever to qualify for an event final at the

World Gymnastics Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic g ...

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Lopez began gymnastics at the age of seven in 1984. By 1987, she was competing in international meets as a junior, including the 1987 Puerto Rico Cup, where she won a bronze medal on the

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

. In 1990, Lopez nearly swept the Mexican national championships, placing second in the all-around and winning the titles on the

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

and

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

. She represented Mexico at the

1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 26th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Indianapolis, United States, in the Hoosier Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise ...

, but placed well out of the medals on every event. Although Mexico did not qualify a full team for the 1992 Olympics, Lopez was able to compete as an individual. In the preliminary round of competition, she finished 80th in the all-around. Following a five year hiatus from the sport, Lopez made a highly successful return to competition in 1997, winning the all-around and vault titles at the '97 Pan American Championships. Over the next three years she would become known as a vault specialist, winning gold medals on the event at the 1997

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, the 1999 Gymnix International, the 2000

Pacific Alliance Championships The Pacific Rim Championships is a major regional biennial gymnastics competition. It is open to teams from member nations of the Pacific Alliance of National Gymnastics Federations, namely Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colomb ...

, the 2000 Cottbus Cup and the Copa Gimnastica. Even when she did not medal, she never finished lower than sixth on vault in any competition she entered. At the

1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 34th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held at Tianjin Arena in Tianjin, China in 1999. Results **The Ukrainian Women's Gymnastics Team was awarded the bronze in 2011 after China was disqualified due to Dong Fongxiao being underag ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, Lopez placed 50th in the all-around during the preliminary competition; however, she was also ranked third on the

, qualifying for the event finals. Her eventual sixth-place finish was the highest ever for a Mexican gymnast in a major international competition, a record that stood for 19 years until Alexa Moreno won the bronze medal on vault at the 2018 world championships. Lopez attended her second Olympics in 2000 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She competed only on vault, qualifying for the event finals and finishing in eighth place (she later moved up to seventh after

Dong Fangxiao Dong Fangxiao ( Chinese: 董芳霄; ''Dǒng Fāngxiāo'') is a Chinese retired international gymnast who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal with the Chinese team at the Olympics, as well as the 1999 World Championshi ...

of China was disqualified for being underage). Lopez competed in a few meets in 2001, including the Cottbus Cup and the French Telecom International, but was beset by injuries. She retired and, in 2002, graduated from University with a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

References

*
In our Spotlight: Denisse Lopez
at ''International Gymnast'' magazine.

*

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Denisse 1976 births Living people Mexican female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1999 Pan American Games Olympic gymnasts of Mexico Sportspeople from Mexicali Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade gold medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Pan American Games competitors for Mexico 21st-century Mexican women 20th-century Mexican women