.The performance in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courthouse Philippe-Chatrier was populated along with vermillion banners, adding a glow to the actually orangey sky emanating off the red clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" dozens themu00e2 $" swing in loud support for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would certainly very soon take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles tennis final.As she lay down on the gunk, eyes skyward and fists extended right into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force appeared to enroll: Zheng had actually simply forged the sort of past history that expanded much past the coliseum and the minute. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had actually created no secret of the reality that the Olympics were as, if not more, essential to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic victory on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team regularly believe a countryu00e2 $ s honor is in front end of private success, u00e2 $ she pointed out over an early morning appointment at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete Home, put discreetly in between the Stade de France and the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the time after her triumph. u00e2 $ I addressed [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the fight, the attitude: It experienced various than every other event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in ping pong at age seven. At age eight, she moved, without her mama and dad, to Wuhan for better training, as well as due to the fact that teenage years she has actually heavily appreciated and also imitated Chinese athletes, including the ping pong celebrity Li Na and the distance runner Liu Xiang, who succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually actually challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, remembering at those early days. u00e2 $ My mother utilized to follow check out on weekends. When she left behind, I would keep her leg as well as cry. When she was actually gone, I would certainly regularly store her jacket. This was actually till I was 13. After 13, my mother determined to stop her task and also happen visit me full time, only to possess much better growth and also far better treatment. After that, it received less complicated. As well as our experts moved to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.