Lydia de Vega

Who is Lydia de Vega?

Lydia de Vega-Mercado is a former athlete from the Philippines, was considered Asia's fastest woman in the 1980s. As Asia's sprint queen, she ran away with the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in the 1982 New Delhi Asiad and duplicated the feat in the 1986 Seoul Asiad where she was clocked 11.53 seconds. She also brought home a silver medal in the 200-meter race from the 1986 Seoul Asiad.

De Vega-Mercado also won the gold in the 100 meters at the Southeast Asian Games. She has twice won both the 100 and 200 meter golds in the Asian Athletics Championships - 1983 and 1987. She holds both Philippine and Southeast Asian records with her personal best of 11.28 seconds.

Diay, as she is fondly called by her countrymen was a two-time Olympian, having carried the country's colors in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

De Vega now serves as a councilor of her native Meycauayan town in Bulacan province. Currently, she is coaching schools and private athletes in Singapore