Gaudelia Díaz
Personal information
Full nameGaudelia Díaz Romero
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Acapulco, Guerrero
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
  • paralympic athlete
Years active1981–present
Spouse
Miguel Ángel Huerta
​
(divorced)​
Musical career
GenresLatin pop
Instrument(s)Vocals
LabelsMusart-Balboa
Sport
SportAthletics
DisabilityBlindness
Disability classB1
EventParalympic athletics
Medal record
Paralympic athletics
Representing  Mexico
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona 3000 metres – B1

Gaudelia Díaz Romero (born in 1964) is a Mexican former paralympic athlete who competed mainly in category B1 distance events. She is also a singer, pianist and actress who has performed under the pseudonym Crystal since the 1980s. Among her hits are "Suavemente" and "No Me Pregunten Por Él".[1]

In the 1990s, Díaz was part of the Mexican team that traveled to Barcelona, Spain for the 1992 Summer Paralympics. There she competed in the 800 meters (ended fourth), 1500m (ended fourth) and 3000m, the last one earned her a bronze medal.

Early life and musical career

Gaudelia Díaz Romero was born in Acapulco, Guerrero, in 1964. Díaz was born blind in a poor family, with her brothers harassing her as she was growing up.[2] She learned to play the piano by ear.[2] She began practicing various sports as a child, including skating, soccer and gymnastics, but gave up the last one because of the need to see the parallel bars. Instead, a friend invited her to go running and she became interested in long-distance running.[3]

Around 1981, Díaz met Sergio Andrade, a Mexican record producer, and both composed "Suavemente", which was selected for the 1982 OTI Festival and made it to the finals.[4] Díaz and Andrade started dating and he became her manager. After this, their relationship became violent as Andrade constantly threatened to physically attack her. According to an interview given to Mara Patricia Castañeda, Díaz said that Andrade psychologically humiliated her when she made mistakes in her singing or piano playing, including one occasion at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan where he threatened to break her arm to justify why she could not play the piano on that occasion.[2][5] Their relationship lasted three years until she realized that she was not living in a normal situation. Mexican singer Juan Gabriel helped her leave Andrade after asking him for advice.[5] Because of that, Andrade did not let her perform at the 1984 OTI Festival the song "Tiempos Mejores", a song about a blind person expecting better times, which ultimately ended up being sung by Yuri and that would win the national contest.[6]

Sports career

Díaz participated in the 1991 Parapan American Games, held in Puerto Rico—at the time the games had no official recognition—where she won gold in the 400, 800 and 1500 meters events.[3] The next year, she participated in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, at the 800, 1500 and 3000 meters events. She ended third in the last one and fourth in the others, earning her a bronze medal.[7] She left her career in athletics due to a lack of support.[3]

Post-Paralympics and personal life

After her return from Barcelona, Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, then-CEO of Televisa, asked her to join the company.[3] She acted in the telenovela Lazos de Amor.[4] At some point, she met Miguel Ángel Huerta, whom she married. Both were in charge of the Sports Federation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Huerta is also visually impaired but to a lesser degree), and Huerta was director of the Mexican Paralympic Committee.[4] As of 2021, Díaz has stated that she is single and living in Acapulco, where she aids visually impaired children with musical education.[2]

Discography

Adapted from AllMusic and iTunes.

  • Suavemente (1982)[8][9]
  • Eso No Se Hace (1983)[10][11]
  • Acaríciame el Alma (1985)[12]
  • Noche Mágica (1986)[13]
  • Mis Secretos (2001)[14]
  • Las Canciones de Mi Vida (2002)[15]
  • Sentimientos de México (2003)[16]
  • Homenaje a Juan Gabriel (2008)[17]
  • De una Vez por Todas (2011)[18][19]

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Rodarte, Jorge (15 November 2022). "De qué murió Raúl Velasco y cómo pasó sus últimos días" [How Raul Velasco died and how he spent his last days]. Debate (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cane, Miguel (22 April 2021). "El gran éxito de Crystal, la dulce cantante y medallista paralímpica, tras la pesadilla que vivió con Sergio Andrade" [The great success of Crystal, the sweet singer and Paralympic medalist, after the nightmare that lived with Sergio Andrade]. Yahoo! (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cruz, Carlos (15 October 2020). "Crystal, la cantante que logró un bronce en Paralímpicos" [Crystal, the singer that won a Paralympic bronze]. Milenio (in Spanish). Mexico City. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Crystal consideró imprescindible ser parte de 'Los triunfadores del festival'" [Crystal considered essential being part of 'the Festival's Winners']. 20 Minutos (in Spanish). Notimex. 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Crystal detalló los abusos que sufrió por parte de Sergio Andrade" [Crystal detailed the abuse she suffered at the hands of Sergio Andrade]. Telemundo (in Spanish). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Rivera, Martha (17 September 2018). "¡Por celos Sergio Andrade le quitó a Crystal la posibilidad de ganar el OTI!" [Out of jealousy, Sergio Andrade took away Crystal's chance to win the OTI!]. TV Notas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Gaudelia Diaz". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Crystal – Suavemente". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Suavemente – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Crystal – Eso No Se Hace". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Eso No Se Hace – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Crystal – Acaríciame el Alma". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "Crystal – Noche Mágica". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "Mis Secretos – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "Las Canciones de Mi Vida – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "Sentimientos de México – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Homenaje a Juan Gabriel – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "Crystal – De Una Vez Por Todas". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "De Una Vez Por Todas – Crystal". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  20. ↑ "Desde Gayola de Telehit cumple tres años" [Telehit's Desde Gayola turns three years old]. Produ (in Spanish). 18 February 2005. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
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