DE VEGA ‘FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT’

Tributes for Filipina sprint star who dazzled fans with her speed and good looks

- Raul Dancel

Lydia de Vega: 1964-2022

Track legend Lydia de Vega – once hailed as Asia’s fastest woman and one of the Philippines’ most decorated and beloved athletes – has died after a four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57.

“She fought the very good fight and is now at peace,” de Vega’s daughter Stephanie de Koenigswarter said in a Twitter post late on Wednesday.

In a statement, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said de Vega “has run her last race”.

“She has finished her contest. She has fought a good fight. Let us pray for her peace,” he said.

De Vega won 15 gold medals throughout her career, including nine from the SEA Games.

She became a track superstar in the Philippines when, at just 16 years old, she won gold medals in the 200m and 400m events at the 1981 Manila SEA Games.

Tall, lithe and with movie star looks, she drew hordes of adoring fans. But it was her consistent performance on the track that turned her into a folk hero.

She went on to dominate the 200m in the 1983 and 1987 SEA Games, and then rule the 100m in the 1987, 1991 and 1993 SEA Games. Her time of 11.28 seconds in the 100m – clocked in 1987 – still stands as a SEA Games record.

De Vega also won two Asian Games gold medals – in New Delhi in 1982 and Seoul in 1986 – and competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics as well.

Her hard-won victories cemented her reputation as Asia’s “track queen”.

RETIREMENT IN SINGAPORE

She retired in 1994, after winning her last two medals at the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore.