De Vega, former two-time Asian Games 100 meter champ, passes away at 57
Lydia de Vega, two-time Asian Games 100 meter champion, passed away Wednesday evening after a four-year battle with breast cancer, her daughter Stephanie said in her Facebook post. She was 57 years old.
''On behalf of our family, it is with absolute grief that I announce the death of my mother, Lydia De Vega this evening, August 10, 2022, at the Makati Medical Center,'' said Stephanie, her eldest.
''She fought the very good fight and is now at peace,'' she added. No wake details were announced.
In a statement, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he joined ''the entire nation in mourning the untimely demise of former sprint queen Lydia de Vega.''
''She placed the Philippines in the map of international athletics,'' he added.
''Lydia de Vega has run her last race. She has finished her contest. She has fought a good fight. Let us pray for her peace,'' said Marcos.
De Vega burst into the limelight as a 16-year-old when she won the 200 and 400 meters in the 1981 Southeast Asian Games. In one of these races, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr was at the Rizal Memorial Track-Football Stadium to congratulate de Vega.
She went on to win the 1982 and 1986 Asian Games 100 meter dash over Indian rival PT Usha. DMS
