Filipino sprint queen Lydia de Vega dies at 57
Lydia de Vega, in memoriam
Former Asian sprint champion Lydia de Vega-Mercado passed away on Wednesday after a four-year battle with breast cancer, according to her daughter. She was 57.
Stephanie Mercado de Koenigswarter posted on Facebook, “On behalf of our family, it is with profound sorrow that I announce the passing of my mother, Lydia De Vega, this evening, August 10, 2022, at the Makati Medical Center. She put up a valiant battle, and she is finally at rest.”
The specifics of the wake will be made public “very soon,” according to Stephanie, but in the meanwhile, she would greatly appreciate prayers for her mother’s soul.
Hailed as Asia’s fastest woman in the 1980s, de Vega reaped gold nine times in the 100-meter dash at the Southeast Asian Games and won it four times in the Asian championship and twice in the Asian Games. The legendary Filipino sprinter from Meycauayan, Bulacan, participated in the Olympic games in Seoul in 1988 and Los Angeles in 1984.
De Vega retired from active competition in1994.
Tributes poured in for the iconic track athlete, including from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos to fellow athletes like long-time professional rival P.T. Usha.
