New Delhi: “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.
My father is on YouTube and he was checking it again and again. I felt like I didn’t get any popularity. In 2023, after I won a medal, I didn’t get followers.
“My mom told me it’s full of your videos. After this campaign, I feel like I am the star of Instagram today,” said a smiling Vithya, who trains at the Inspire Institute of Sports under her coach Nehpal Singh.
“The goal is to go under 54secs (400m hurdles). It is possible. I want to compete in international meets against strong competitors that will help me push myself. I will sit with my coach and make a plan.”
Vithya’s focus will now turn to the 2028 LA Olympics. Because the competition was so strong, i was able to break the record here.
“Everyone knows Naser can run possibly 48secs (PB 48.14s). Because you went sub-55 seconds’, ‘You broke it. Nehpal had asked Vithya to not post any race reels or posters and to focus on training. The night before her first competition (mixed relay), her coach asked Vithya if she would like to run the anchor leg. She had not done that in a major championships and here was an opportunity to either become the face of the team or cope criticism, the lot of the anchor runners. Vithya was in two minds, but agreed. As an anchor, for two and a half minutes you’re standing and watching the other three runners. That makes you a little nervous. If I had not pushed that much, she would have come closer. Still, at the finish she was beginning to catch me. It was a great team effort.”
“My coach said, ‘You win medals and followers will come. “She (Usha) was so happy and told me records are meant to be broken. “Initially I said no. I told my coach I cannot take that pressure, but he gave me the confidence that I was capable of a strong finish. My teammates said if we three ran well, we will give you the maximum lead, and that helped.
