Empowerment

     This month, Lifestyle Network is celebrating women and women empowerment and it got me thinking about women athletes, who are some of the best examples of strong, independent women.  So here's my list of the top 3 FIlipina athletes in history.

Elma Muros-Posadas - Sadly, the young generation may remember Elma for her long stint in GMA 7's Survivor Philippines, but sports fans know her greatness lies in athletics.  One of the true iron women of the sport, Muros-Posadas has shown great consistency and dedication over the years as she is the most be-medalled South East Asian Games (SEA Games) athlete of all time.  She boasts of copping a total of 15 golds in the biennial event, which impressively cam in at multiple categories.  Winning golds in long jump, 200 meter run and the 100 meter dash, Elma's most impressive performance would probably be in 1991, when she went on her usual winning ways, despite being "on the family way."  When people talk of great athletes with the strength and determination to win consistently over a number of years, Muros-Posadas has to be on top of that list.

Lydia de Vega-Mercado - One of the true greats and probably one of the country's most famous female athletes, De Vega-Mercado captured the country's (and Asia's for that matter) in the prestigious 100 meter dash.  Long known to be athletics' most important event, the dash became the stage for Lydia's greatness, not once but three times.  In the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, Lydia outsprinted Asia's best and then incredibly, duplicated the feat four years later at the 2986 Asiad. Lydia also set a new Asian record for the 100 meter dash, which stayed on for a good number of years.  To add to that, she also took home multiple gold medals in three different SEA Games and finally, capped of her greatness with winning both golds in the 100 and 200 meter runs in the 1983 and 1987 Asian Track Championships. 

Lita de la Rosa - Whenever tenpin bowling is discussed, so-called experts keep talking of the greatest Filipino athlete Paeng Nepomuceno or that other world champion Bong Coo, who has lately turned into an embarrassment.  True bowling afficionados, however, know of another icon in this field once dominated by FIlipinos.  Lita de la Rosa became a fixture in the bowling world as a member of the Philippine National Team and held the world at her hands as she put together one of the most awesome performance in bowling history.  In the 1979 World Championships, De la Rosa first struck with a gold medal in the Singles event, then followed it up with a gold in the Doubles.  Then, Lita confirmed her greatness with another gold in the prestigious Masters event, completing a hat trick.  This amazing feat was all the more great when you consider that a few months before that, she also won the 1978 World Cup in Bogota, Colombia, becoming the first woman and only Filipino, male or female, to hold both world titles at the same time.   


photos courtesy of acbidf.fr, manilagenesis.com, toughjobsphilippines.com