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 and Berta Veiga. In the
Junior European Championships in
Tenerife, the group made up of
Carmen Acedo,
Noelia Fernández, Ruth Goñi, Eider Mendizábal,
Montserrat Martín and
Gemma Royo, with Cristina and
Diana Martín 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 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. 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. 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 ==