Jonathan Mercado, Stephanie Mercado-de Koenigswarter and husband David de Koenigswarter at the 2023 PSA Awards Night on Tuesday. –ARNEL TACSON
MANILA, Philippines—Stephanie Mercado-de Koenigswarter and Jonathan Mercado, children of the late Lydia De Vega-Mercado, accepted the Philippine Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame on behalf of their mother.
Brothers and sisters who have received the PSA’s noble honor of Olympic athletes twice while sharing the knowledge that the Philippine sports legend has bestowed on them, who passed away last year after her battle with breast cancer.
“There are two things we learned from our mother, […] she always tells us to be respectful and disciplined,” Stephanie said during Monday’s PSA awards night at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.
“If you have a goal, if you’re disciplined and you really want to achieve it, you’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it and we’ve seen that in mom. She started running when she was 15 years old, she didn’t win immediately but thanks to her determination, she achieved a lot.”
De Vega-Mercado became famous in athletics in the 1980s when she competed in the Olympics twice, in ’84 and ’88.
Despite not reaping any accolades in either Olympics, De Vega-Mercado went on to win several global events, including nine gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games. career determination.
She won three gold medals in ’87, ’91 and ’93 in the SEA Games 100 meters.
Her son, Jonathan, also recalled an important message his mother left him — one that he also wants other Filipino athletes to remember in memory of De Vega-Mercado.
“My mom taught me that life will throw anything to make you say no but she taught me that despite it, despite all of it. [challenges] do not listen. Keep pushing yourself and you will achieve your goals,” the graduate says.
“Always, laban lang (keep fighting),” added Stephanie.
Being the child of a legendary athlete can be stressful but Stephanie, who played for La Salle in the UAAP, said her mother taught her well despite it.
She wants to teach the same thing to her children.
“He is swimming now but then we will introduce other sports to him. I play volleyball, my husband plays tennis and football,” said the volleyball character.
“We would make him try anything we could recommend to him but in the end the decision was up to him,” she added.
Asia’s Sprint Queen was inducted into the Hall of Fame the same night Elma Muros, a fellow track and field legend, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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