Gaudelia Díaz Romero

Gaudelia Díaz Romero (born in 1964) is a Mexican former Paralympic athlete who competed mainly in B1 category 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".

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 (where she finished fourth), 1500m (where she finished fourth) and 3000m, in which she won a bronze medal.

Early life and musical career Gaudelia Díaz Romero was born in Acapulco, Guerrero, in 1964. Díaz was born blind into a poor family, and was harassed by her brothers as she was growing up. She learned to play the piano by ear.

Around 1981, Díaz met Sergio Andrade, a Mexican record producer, and both composed "", a song that entered the 11th Mexican national selection for the OTI Festival and made it to the national finals. 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.

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. Because of that, Andrade did not let her perform the song "", a song about a blind person expecting better times, at the 13th Mexican national selection for the OTI Festival, which ultimately ended up being sung by Yuri, winning the national final, and representing Mexico in the OTI Festival 1984, where she placed third.

Sports career Díaz participated in the 1991 Parapan American Games, held in Puerto Rico—which at the time the games had no official recognition—where she won gold in the 400, 800, and 1500 meters events. She ended her athletics career due to a lack of support. Eso No Se Hace (1983) Acaríciame el Alma (1985) Noche Mágica (1986) Mis Secretos (2001) Las Canciones de Mi Vida (2002) Sentimientos de México (2003) Homenaje a Juan Gabriel (2008) De una Vez por Todas (2011)

Filmography De qué color es el viento (1972) – Eva Helguera Lazos de Amor (1995) – Soledad Jiménez