SEA Games fed pays tribute to late Lydia de Vega’s greatness

Ex-national volleyball player Mary Jane Santos (left) and former SEAG long jump queen Elma Muros-Posadas pay their last respects to Lydia de Vega during the late track great’s wake at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig. De Vega, who died on Wednesday last week, will be laid to rest in her native Meycauayan, Bulacan. —LYN RILLON

The whole of Southeast Asia (SEA) took its turn in recognizing the late Lydia de Vega’s greatness, with the SEA Games federation paying tribute with a highlight video of the Filipino sprinter’s exploits during a gathering of the 11-nation body prepping for the 32nd edition of the Games in Cambodia next year.

“Lydia’s legacy will forever be remembered. She left an indelible mark not only on our country, but on the entire region as well,’’ said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol’’ Tolentino.

The POC chief attended the SEAG Federation meeting at National Olympic Committee of Thailand in Bangkok where, as part of the agenda, the member-countries honored De Vega who passed away last week after a long battle with breast cancer.

De Vega will be buried in her hometown of Meycauyan, Bulacan, on Wednesday.

The SEAG Federation met to thresh out the details of Cambodia’s first-time hosting of the Games scheduled May 5-16, 2023 in the nation’s capital of Phnom Penh.

A museum inside its planned headquarters at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, will be built, according to Tolentino, with De Vega the first to be honored with a wall commemorating her achievements.

Meanwhile, Tolentino was installed as honorary member of the International Chess Federation (Fide) in recognition for his “special contribution to the world of chess.’’

The Fide conferral on Tolentino, president of both the POC and PhilCycling, was held during the Fide congress concurrent with the 44th Chess Olympiad recently in Chennai, India.

“It’s an honor to be conferred such an award from the Fide, but this honor is not for me, but for Philippine chess, Philippine sports and the entire country in general,’’ said Tolentino.

It was the most prestigious recognition to be conferred by the Fide General Assembly, one of the largest international sports organizations with 195 member nations.

Tolentino served as Fide secretary general during his term as president of the Fide Southeast Asian Zone. INQ