Caitlyn Jenner smashes Twitter world record, reaching a million followers

Former Olympic decathlon gold-medallist Caitlyn Jenner, previously known as Bruce Jenner, has smashed another world record by becoming the fastest person on Twitter to reach one million followers.

Jenner took just four hours (and three minutes) to reach the milestone, usurping US president Barack Obama who broke the record just two weeks ago with his new @POTUS Twitter handle.

Jenner’s verified account announced itself with a tweeted picture of the star’s Vanity Fair cover. The magazine features the full debut of her new name Caitlyn, following Jenner’s male-to-female transition.

The tweet has been retweeted almost 225,000 times and favourited 250,000 times.

Jenner features in the reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians as the step-parent of Kim Kardashian and the former husband of Kris Kardashian, and has gained widespread praise for her open approach to transition, particularly in a tell-all segment with confessional US TV-host Diane Sawyer.

The Vanity Fair piece features photographs shot by Annie Leibovitz and includes Jenner in a number of haut couture outfits, as well as an in-depth interview with Jenner about her coming out as a woman.

Last month Obama took a sluggish 4 hours 52 minutes to hit the million mark when he set up a second Twitter account at @POTUS, matching first lady Michelle Obama’s @FLOTUS account.

Previously the world record was set by actor Robert Downey Jr who hit a million followers in a positively embarrassing 24 hours.

Jenner is heading swiftly towards 2 million followers, currently on 1.92 million. She has a long way to catch up with Obama, however, who is nudging towards 60 million.