India, Oct. 1 -- "With every swipe of our phones, we can see your face." The comment by Vithya Ramraj's parents made her open her Instagram account, and to her surprise find that her fame had travelled faster than the blistering anchor-leg she ran in the women's 4x400m relay to win India's only athletics gold medal at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

In an age of instant reels and swipes, social media can shower you with instant stardom and Vithya's rapidly rising numbers confirms her status.

From 5K to 65K followers on Instagram and growing by the hour, Vithya is grinning ear-to-ear after her sensational campaign, winning a gold (relay), silver (4x400m mixed relay), and bronze (400m hurdles), which came while breaking PT Usha's 42-year...