Michael Keon cites importance of grassroots program to produce the next Lydia de Vega-Mercado

Michael Keon, the executive director of the Project Gintong Alay in the 1980s, stressed the importance of talent identification and grassroots development programs to produce world-class talents such as the late trackster Lydia de Vega-Mercado.

Paying tribute to de Vega-Mercado’s legacy in Philippine sports at the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night Monday, March 6, Keon recalled how they discovered the potential of the then 16-year-old aspirant during one of their races in the 1980s.

“During that time, Lydia ran the 400 meters and she broke the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games and the Philippine record at the age of 16,” said the Laoag City Mayor in the grand affair presented by the PSC and Cignal TV, and backed by the POC, Tagaytay City Mayor Bambol Tolentino, MILO, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, ICTSI, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

The rest was history for de Vega-Mercado, who eventually won multiple gold medals in Asian Athletics Championships, the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games.

De Vega-Mercado, who was notably Asia's fastest woman in the 1980s, also represented the country in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The annual awards night for Filipino athletes honored de Vega-Mercado with a Hall of Fame award for her valuable contribution to Philippine sports.

Keon said de Vega-Mercado was one example of the vast talents the country has.