.The performance in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated along with vermillion banners, incorporating a radiance to the presently orangey sky emanating off the reddish clay-based court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" manies themu00e2 $" swing in loud help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would quickly take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles tennis final.As she set on the dirt, eyes skyward as well as fists stretched in to the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force seemed to be to enroll: Zheng had actually just forged the kind of background that extended much past the stadium and the instant. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had actually made no secret of the reality that the Olympics were as, or even more, crucial to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our experts always think a countryu00e2 $ s honor resides in front end of personal effectiveness, u00e2 $ she mentioned over a morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete House, tucked discreetly in between the Stade de France and the Aquatics Centre in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the day after her triumph. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotion, the match, the attitude: It experienced various than intermittent tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began playing ping pong at age 7. At grow older eight, she relocated, without her mother as well as papa, to Wuhan for far better training, and due to the fact that teenage years she has profoundly marvelled at and also emulated Chinese athletes, including the tennis star Li Na and also the distance runner Liu Xiang, that succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually tough, u00e2 $ Zheng mentioned, remembering at those early days. u00e2 $ My mama used to come go to on weekend breaks. When she left, I would secure her leg as well as cry. When she was actually gone, I would certainly constantly keep her coat. This was till I was 13. After thirteen, my mama chose to stop her task and also happen stay with me full-time, simply to possess far better growth and far better treatment. After that, it got easier. And also our experts transferred to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.