KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

Sports icon Lydia de Vega-Mercado was laid to rest Wednesday in Meycauayan, Bulacan a week after she succumbed to breast cancer.

Family and friends attended the funeral of two-time Asian sprint queen from St. Francis of Assisi Parish also in Meycauayan before being brought to Meycauayan Memorial Park (Pandayan).

De Vega-Mercado battled the deadly disease for four years before family announced that she was in critical condition late July.

Prayers and support then poured for de Vega-Mercado, whose name immediately trended on social media.

However, she passed away at the age of 57 on Aug. 10, 2022.

De Vega-Mercado shot to fame in the 1980s as part of the Gintong Alay program where she first made an impact in the 1981 Southeast Asian Games with gold-medal performances in the 200 meter and 400m events exceeding records set at the Asian Games.

She clinched the gold medal in the 100m dash at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, before duplicating her feat in the same event at the 1986 Seoul edition.

Overall, she was also a nine-time SEAG champion and two-time Olympian.

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) already announced it will immortalize de Vega-Mercado at the soon-to-rise POC museum at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to honor her legacy in the field of athletics.