Asia's Sprint Queen Lydia de Vega Passes Away
The Asian sports world mourns the death of one of its most important athletes ever. Filipino sports icon Lydia de Vega's passing was announced yesterday, August 10, by her daughter, former De La Salle University Lady Spiker Steph Mercado de Koenigswarter.
Now, we look back at the track and field legend's decorated career.
De Vega trained under the Gintong Alay program, together with her late father Francisco "Tatang" de Vega. In 1979, she had already represented the Philippines in the third Asian Track and Field Championship in Tokyo.
The Bulacan-born track star gained international recognition during the early 1980s. At the age of 16, she won the 1981 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold in the 200-meter and 400-meter sprint.
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Labeled as Asia's fastest woman for eight years straight from 1982 to 1990, she was a quarter finalist in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. De Vega also won two gold medals at the Asian Games and nine gold and nine silver medals in five SEA Games.
From 1989 to 1991, de Vega focused on finishing her degree and family life, but returned to win the gold medal at the 1991 SEA Games 100-meter dash. She retired after competing at the track and field competition of the 1994 Manila-Fujian Games.
De Vega remained one of the most revered athletes in the Philippines even during retirement. The track queen would then settle for a quieter life elsewhere. She would eventually find work as a coach in Singapore. The Olympian had also been affiliated with with the Philippine Sports Commission and with the Alliance of Coaches and Athletes of the Philippines for a time.
The Philippine Sports Writer Association named de Vega the "Athlete of the Year" in 1981, 1986, and 1987. She was voted as the Athlete of the Century in 1998, and was inducted into the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Affectionally called "Diay," she set quite a few records in her prime, including the fastest in the SEA Games 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. De Vega was a record holder in the Long Jump competition from 1987 to 1989, as well. Her 100-meter run record of 11.28 seconds stood for 33 years, only to be broken by Kristina Knott at the 2020 Drake Blue Oval Showcase.
The last time the public got to see de Vega was during the 2019 SEA Games. She was part of the group that opened the tourney at the Philippine Arena, along with fellow legends Efren “Bata” Reyes, Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno, and Eric Buhain.
In 2018, de Vega was said to have been diagnosed with breast cancer, according to her daughter. It was kept under wraps over the past few years. She would unfortunately succumb to the disease in 2022. De Vega died at the age of 57.
