.The performance in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was actually dotted with vermillion streamers, including a glow to the actually orangey air emanating off the reddish clay court.These were actually Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" hundreds of themu00e2 $" waving in boisterous help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that will quickly take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles ping pong final.As she lay down on the dirt, eyes skyward and fists prolonged right into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation appeared to register: Zheng had simply shaped the kind of record that expanded much past the stadium and the minute. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had made clear of the reality that the Olympics were as, or even even more, crucial to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic triumph on August 3.Photograph: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we always believe a countryu00e2 $ s tribute is in front of personal results, u00e2 $ she stated over a morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete Property, put discreetly in between the Stade de France and the Aquatics Centre in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the time after her conquest. u00e2 $ I alleviated [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the battle, the mindset: It really felt different than every other competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing ping pong at grow older seven. At age eight, she relocated, without her mom and also daddy, to Wuhan for better mentoring, and also considering that adolescence she has actually deeply appreciated and emulated Mandarin sportsmens, like the tennis star Li Na and the distance runner Liu Xiang, who gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually really difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, remembering at those early times. u00e2 $ My mama made use of to find check out on weekends. When she left, I will hold her leg as well as weep. When she was actually gone, I will consistently store her coat. This was until I was thirteen. After thirteen, my mom made a decision to stop her task and also happen visit me full-time, merely to have far better growth and much better treatment. After that, it obtained much easier. And also our company moved to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.