MANILA – Lydia de Vega-Mercado, one of the greatest Filipino athletes of all time, reached her finish line after years of battling stage 4 breast cancer. She was 57.
The passing of the once Asia’s sprint queen was confirmed by her daughter, former volleybelle Stephanie Mercado de Koenigswarter, in a Facebook post on Wednesday evening.
“On behalf of our family, it is with absolute grief that I announce the death of my mother, Lydia De Vega this evening, Aug. 10, 2022, at the Makati Medical Center,” Mercado de Koenigswarter said.
“She fought the very good fight and is now at peace,” she added. “Wake details will be announced very soon but for now, I would wholeheartedly appreciate your prayers for the soul of my mother.”
De Vega-Mercado was one of the best Filipino track and field athletes ever. She won nine Southeast Asian Games gold medals, two at the Asian Games, and four in the Asian Athletics Championships.
A product of the Gintong Alay program in the 1980s, De Vega-Mercado first captured the 1981 SEA Games gold in the 200-meter and 400-meter run at the age of 16 while being coached by her father.
De Vega-Mercado’s performance then leveled up in the 1982 and 1986 Asian Games where she took the gold in the 100-meter dash and another gold in 1991 SEA Games despite coming from pregnancy.
Even in the latter part of her career, De Vega-Mercado still won golds in the 100m and the 200m in the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore, one of the final competitions of her career.
Some of De Vega-Mercado national records stood until recently when Filipina-American sprinter Kristina Knott broke her 33-year record in the 100-meter run of 11.28.
De Vega-Mercado spent most of her retirement years in Singapore where she worked as a teacher. Her last public appearance was during the 2019 SEA Games opening ceremony at the Philippine Arena./PN
