At the 1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tianjin, Lopez placed 50th in the all-around during the preliminary competition; however, she was also ranked third on the vault, 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.