.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was populated along with vermillion streamers, including a radiance to the presently orangey sky emanating off the reddish clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" manies themu00e2 $" swing in energetic assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would very soon take gold by beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people tennis final.As she set on the gunk, eyes skyward and fists extended into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravity appeared to register: Zheng had actually just created the sort of past history that extended far past the coliseum as well as the instant. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had created clear of the fact that the Olympics were actually as, or even more, significant to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic victory on August 3.Image: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we constantly think a countryu00e2 $ s honor remains in face of private excellence, u00e2 $ she pointed out over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Residence, tucked inconspicuously in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis location, the time after her conquest. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Video games] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the fight, the way of thinking: It experienced different than every other tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in ping pong at age seven. At grow older 8, she moved, without her mommy as well as papa, to Wuhan for much better coaching, as well as since teenage years she has profoundly marvelled at and mimicked Chinese sportsmens, like the ping pong star Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, who gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was really hard, u00e2 $ Zheng said, recalling at those early times. u00e2 $ My mama made use of to come check out on weekends. When she left, I would keep her leg as well as weep. When she was actually gone, I will always hold her jacket. This was actually until I was actually 13. After thirteen, my mother made a decision to stop her project and also come visit me full time, only to possess much better development and also better treatment. After that, it obtained simpler. And also our experts transferred to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.