'Champion of life': Indian track legend PT Usha mourns loss of rival Lydia De Vega

MANILA, Philippines, August 17 ------ India's Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil "PT" Usha, one of the late Lydia De Vega-Mercado's fiercest rivals, joined the Philippine sports community in mourning the loss of the Filipino sports icon.

Usha, who competed alongside De Vega-Mercado multiple times in her career, shared her condolences to the track star's family. "Deeply saddened on losing my athletics counterpart, a fierce competitor and good friend Lydia de Vega" wrote Usha on Twitter. "She lost her life race to breast cancer but will always be remembered as a champion of life. My deepest condolences to her family," she added. De Vega-Mercado passed away on last Wednesday at 57 after a years-long fight with cancer.

Usha, 58, battled De Vega-Mercado for Asian track supremacy in the 1980s when both their careers peaked. In the 1982 Asian Games, the Filipina drew first blood when she beat Usha in the 100-meter dash event. But Usha proved to be a worthy rival as not long after, the Indian track star won gold in 1983, when she ruled the 400-meter event of the Asian Athletics Championships. In the same meet, De Vega-Mercado won twin golds in the 200-meter and 100-meter events. Usha and De Vega continued their dominance in the next two editions of the Championships with a haul of seven gold medals between the two runners.

Source: philstar.com