.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion banners, including a radiance to the presently orangey sky rising off the red clay court.These were actually Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" dozens themu00e2 $" waving in boisterous assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will quickly take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles tennis final.As she put down on the filth, eyes skyward and fists stretched right into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force seemed to sign up: Zheng had simply forged the kind of past that expanded far past the arena and the second. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had actually made clear of the simple fact that the Olympics were actually as, if not additional, important to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic triumph on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we constantly think a countryu00e2 $ s honor resides in front end of private excellence, u00e2 $ she mentioned over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Property, put discreetly between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the day after her victory. u00e2 $ I alleviated [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the battle, the way of thinking: It felt various than every other tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing ping pong at grow older seven. At grow older 8, she relocated, without her mama as well as daddy, to Wuhan for better mentoring, and also due to the fact that teenage years she has actually greatly appreciated and followed Mandarin athletes, like the tennis superstar Li Na as well as the jogger Liu Xiang, that gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was definitely difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng said, looking back at those very early times. u00e2 $ My mommy made use of to come see on weekends. When she left behind, I will keep her leg and weep. When she was gone, I would certainly always hold her jacket. This was actually until I was 13. After thirteen, my mother decided to quit her project as well as come visit me full time, merely to possess much better growth and also better care. After that, it received much easier. As well as we transferred to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.