Lydia de Vega, who had multiple Asian sprint titles in the 1980s, has passed away. The Filipino legend, 57, succumbed to cancer on Wednesday.

Her daughter, Stephanie Mercado-de Koenigswarter, made the announcement of her death.

“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,” Koenigswarter said on Facebook.

De Vega was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2018. In July 2022, her daughter Stephanie had revealed that she had a brain surgery and was “in critical condition”.

Born on December 26, 1964, in Meycauayan, Philippines, De Vega was the 100m champion in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games. Considered the fastest in Asia in her time, she won the 100m gold in 1986 Seoul Asian Games as well.

De Vega won medals in 200m and 400m runs as well. De Vega won 15 gold medals throughout her career, including nine in the South-east Asian Games.

PT Usha was among many international athletes who paid their tributes to De Vega.

The Indian legend, who enjoyed on-track rivalry with De Vega, tweeted: “Deeply saddened on losing my athletics counterpart, a fierce competitor and good friend Lydia de Vega yesterday. She lost her life race to breast cancer but will always be remembered as a champion of life. My deepest condolences to her family!”