Lydia De Vega is a legendary Filipina athlete and a native of Meycauayan City in Bulacan. She was dubbed Asia’s fastest woman in the 1980s. We were saddened by her passing last August 10, 2022. Her legacy will remain in our hearts forever.
Lydia De Vega-Mercado: 80’s Asian Sprint Queen
Her father was the late Francisco ‘Tatang’ De Vega, a police officer whose rigorous training would make Lydia the most successful and popular female athlete in our country. Her parents, Francisco and Mary, had ten children, including Lydia. He first discovered her talent for sprinting at 12 and enjoyed a career that spanned 17 years.
De Vega was a member of the “Gintong Alay Track & Field Program” in 1979, a national sports program of the Philippine government started under the administration of former President Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos. Her father and Mr. Claro Pellose first trained her. Her coaches from 1980 to 1984 were Santos Magno and Anthony Benson.
De Vega first made her mark at the 1981 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila with gold medal performances in the 200m and 400m events that broke the Asian Games record.
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As the sprint queen of Asia, she won the 100m gold medal at the 1982 New Delhi Asiad (Asian Games), defeating P.T. Usha, India’s queen of track and field, and Mo Myeong-hui, a South Korean sprinter.
Lydia won gold in the 100 meters at the SEA Games (1987, 1991, and 1993). She also placed first in the 200 meters in 1981, 1983, 1987, and 1993. She won gold in the 100m and 200m at the Asian Athletics Championships in 1983 and 1987. As a 16-year-old in 1981, she was second in the 400m and won bronze in the 200m.
She also brought a silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1986 Seoul Asiad. De Vega brought home more than 40 gold medals from international meets.
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De Vega is a two-time Olympian representing the Philippines in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.
From 1989 to 1991, De Vega took a break from sports. During this time, she finished her studies at Far Eastern University and got married. She participated in the 1991 Asian Athletics Championships and was ranked 7th. In October 1994, after competing in the Manila-Fujian Games in athletics, where she won the 100m race, she formally announced her retirement as a national athlete.
In 2001, De Vega was elected councilor in her hometown of Meycauayan, Bulacan. In early 2005, she was appointed liaison officer of the Alliance of Coaches and Athletes of the Philippines with the Philippine Sports Commission.
On October 2, 2006, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Republic Act 9356, which Congresswoman Reylina Nicolas filed as House Bill 4397 on July 24 of that year. Meycauayan successfully became a city on December 10, 2006, after voters ratified the law in the plebiscite.
In December 2005, De Vega went to Singapore after receiving three job offers from Singaporean private schools to handle athletics. She coached young athletes in Singapore.
In 2018, De Vega was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. In July 2022, her daughter Stephanie revealed that she underwent brain surgery but was “in critical condition.”
Stephanie also mentioned that her mom had preferred not to disclose her health condition with friends and colleagues in the sporting field, choosing to face her ordeal privately. Thus when her condition went public, people in the sports industry were shocked, among them one of her best buddies, Elma Muros-Posadas, also a famous track athlete.
Lydia was already silently battling the disease at the time she took part as one of the flagbearers of the Southeast Asian Games Flag along with other Filipino sporting legends in November 2019 at the opening ceremonies of the 30th SEA Games, which was held in the country.
Lydia De Vega-Mercado finally succumbed and breathed her last on August 10, 2022, while being treated at Makati Medical Center, ending her four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57 years old.
Her family, friends, and former teammates attended the funeral mass at St. Francis of Assisi Parish before being brought to her resting site at Pandayan Memorial Cemetery in Meycauayan Bulacan.