.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was dotted with vermillion streamers, including a glow to the already orangey air originating off the red clay-based court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" thousands of themu00e2 $" swing in lively support for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that would soon take gold through beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs ping pong final.As she lay down on the filth, eyes skyward and also fists prolonged in to the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation appeared to sign up: Zheng had merely forged the type of record that stretched much past the coliseum as well as the moment. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had made obvious of the reality that the Olympics were as, otherwise even more, necessary to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic triumph on August 3.Image: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we always strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s tribute remains in front of individual excellence, u00e2 $ she pointed out over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete Property, put inconspicuously between the Stade de France and the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the time after her accomplishment. u00e2 $ I addressed [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the battle, the mindset: It experienced various than every other event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing tennis at age seven. At grow older 8, she moved, without her mom as well as papa, to Wuhan for far better mentoring, and also because adolescence she has heavily admired and mimicked Mandarin sportsmens, including the tennis superstar Li Na as well as the runner Liu Xiang, that succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, remembering at those very early days. u00e2 $ My mommy used to come browse through on weekends. When she left, I would hold her leg and weep. When she was actually gone, I will always hold her jacket. This was until I was 13. After 13, my mommy determined to quit her work and come stay with me full-time, only to have much better growth and also much better care. Afterwards, it received easier. And our experts moved to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.