As fit as a fiddle!

Legendary athlete Carl Lewis, who flew into the City to take part in the 10K Run, had paid a visit to the Nike showroom to interact with Bangalore’s runners and his fans recently.

The nine-time gold medal-winning Olympic athlete discussed everything – from his career and achievements to fitness secrets.

On being here for the first time, he said, “It feels like I’ve been here for a month already.” National record holder and runner Reeth Abraham, who was present at the event, asked him about life after retirement after being a huge star.

“I retired when I was ready. My last run was at the age of 35 and my first was at 17. Retirement is the greatest phase of my life and I have no regrets,” he said.

He also revealed that he coaches children now and that it brings him immense pleasure.

The main focus of the event was on his fitness and lifestyle secrets. He turned vegan in his 20s and avoided salt, sugar, fat and oil.

He revealed to the audience that he used to drink 12 ounces of vegetable juice for dinner every night.

A controlled diet is what he says helped him the most. While travelling, he used to take his juicer with him as well! He further emphasised on the importance of training and preparing.

“If you want to do well on Saturday, you need to work Monday through Friday,” he said.

His advice focussed on the importance of keeping one’s weight down if they wanted to be a runner without compromising on providing the body with enough nutrients.

He presented an award to Shreyas Karnad, a runner who lost 45 kilos in the last year, by running.

Confessing to be on the obese side, Shreyas started off on the treadmill for the first four months and then started running outside.

He and Varsha were the two lucky winners who met Carl Lewis and exchanged a few words with him.

Some lucky members of the audience posed for a group photo with the star at the end of the event.