American track and field legend Carl Lewis believes that the secret to his tremendous success is the numerous sacrifices he had to make en route to winning as many as nine Olympic gold medals.

Importance of basics

“The greatest thing about sport is that the basics will never change. It is hard work, dedication and sacrifice. And that sacrifice is practising day in and day out. Maybe, you can’t go to places...[or be in] relationships. Everyone that has success has the same message—hard work, focus, dedication and sacrifice. We want to tell the young people that hey it works. Everybody told me that and now I am telling them that,” Lewis told mid-day on the sidelines of the Indian Sports Honours at a Juhu hotel on Thursday.   
 
Lewis, 61, who also won an Olympic silver and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold medals between 1979 and 1996, always wanted to be rich and famous. And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to achieve that without hard work and dedication.