It was Lydia de Vega-Mercado’s dream that more people would acknowledge the importance of talent cultivation in the field of sports.

Steph de Koenigswarter, de Vega-Mercado’s daughter, shared this in her speech prior to accepting the Hall of Fame Award bestowed upon her mother during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night at the Diamond Hotel Manila on Monday, March 6.

“Mother would have wanted to say this if she was here today: Let us acknowledge talent cultivation and develop it into our national sports culture,” Steph said of her mother, who passed away last year from a long battle with cancer.

Cultivating talent has been essential in de Vega-Mercado’s life after being part of the Project Gintong Alay program for national players to become one of the legendary athletes the country has ever had.

Even after retiring to track and field, de Vega continued her contribution to the sport by coaching young athletes in Singapore.

“Our nation is blessed with so much talent, and with the proper program in sports, these talents can be cultivated to world-class athletes,” Steph said.

Steph also shared a part of her mother’s speech in one awards night.

“Ang trophy na ito ay punung-puno ng sakripisyo, pasasalamat at pagmamahal. Punung-puno ng pasasalamat sapagkat hindi lahat ng atleta ay maaaring tumayo sa harap ninyo sa lahat ng oras,” de Vega-Mercado’s speech read.

Elma Muros-Posadas, who was also honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, also said her passion for the sport extended to developing young athletes.

“Hindi pa rin kami magsasawang mag-develop ng mga bata na susunod sa aming mga yapak,” said Muros-Posadas, more known as the Long Jump Queen in her heydays.

“Napakabigat sa mga manlalaro ang dalhin ang pangalan ng bansa, pero walang imposible sa Pilipino,” she added.