LYDIA de Vega burst into the international scene with a golden double in the women’s 200 and 400-meter runs of the 1981 Manila Southeast Asian Games in front of a packed crowd at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Born in Meycauayan, Bulacan, she dominated Asia’s track and field competitions for more than a decade, sweeping the 100 and 200-meter races in the 1983 Kuwait and 1987 Singapore editions of the Asian track meet.
Her career highlights included a rivalry with India’s P.T. Usha, whom she beat for the century dash gold medal in the 1986 Seoul Asiad. Four years earlier, she made a smashing debut in the New Delhi Asiad, ruling the 100-meter run.
She was a two-time Olympian, representing the country in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
She also won gold medals in the 1983, 1987, 1991 and 1993 Southeast Asian Games.
Due to his mercurial father-coach, Francisco “Tatang” de Vega, the popular and pretty athlete was sometimes drawn into controversy, particularly with former Gintong Alay chief Michael Keon, who wanted her to run in the 400 meters where he believed the younger De Vega could be truly world class.
But the elder De Vega put his foot down, insisting that his daughter run in the glamor sprint events.
After retiring, the well-decorated athlete coached athletic students in Singapore before returning to the country in 2018 when her breast cancer symptoms began.
De Vega was enshrined in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame together with bowlers Olivia “Bong” Coo and Paeng Nepomuceno in 2018 as the third batch of inductees in rites held at the Philippine International Convention Center.
Her last public appearance was as one of the flag bearers during the opening ceremonies of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.
