.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courthouse Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion streamers, adding a radiance to the actually orangey air originating off the reddish clay-based court.These were actually Chinese flagsu00e2 $" manies themu00e2 $" swaying in energetic assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would quickly take gold by beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs ping pong final.As she lay down on the dirt, eyes skyward as well as fists prolonged right into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation appeared to sign up: Zheng had actually just built the kind of past history that prolonged much past the arena and the second. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had made obvious of the reality that the Olympics were actually as, otherwise more, significant to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic victory on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our experts always feel a countryu00e2 $ s honor resides in face of personal results, u00e2 $ she stated over an early morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete House, put inconspicuously in between the Stade de France and the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis place, the time after her triumph. u00e2 $ I treated [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the fight, the mindset: It really felt different than intermittent event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started participating in tennis at age seven. At age eight, she moved, without her mom and papa, to Wuhan for far better training, as well as considering that adolescence she has heavily appreciated and also followed Chinese athletes, including the tennis celebrity Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, who gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually definitely tough, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, recalling at those early times. u00e2 $ My mother used to come check out on weekend breaks. When she left, I would certainly secure her lower leg and also cry. When she was gone, I will always keep her coat. This was until I was actually 13. After thirteen, my mommy made a decision to quit her job and also happen stay with me permanent, merely to possess far better development and much better care. After that, it received less complicated. And also our team transferred to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.