.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated with vermillion banners, including a radiance to the actually orangey air rising off the red clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" thousands of themu00e2 $" waving in energetic help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will soon take gold through beating 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 also fists extended in to the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation appeared to register: Zheng had actually only built the kind of past that extended much past the arena and also the moment. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had actually made clear of the reality that the Olympics were actually as, or even more, crucial to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic success on August 3.Picture: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we constantly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s respect is in front of private effectiveness, u00e2 $ she pointed out over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Home, tucked quietly in between the Stade de France and also the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the day after her conquest. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the battle, the way of thinking: It experienced various than every other tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in ping pong at grow older seven. At age 8, she relocated, without her mom and dad, to Wuhan for much better training, and given that adolescence she has greatly marvelled at and also replicated Mandarin sportsmens, like the ping pong celebrity Li Na and also the distance runner Liu Xiang, that won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually definitely hard, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, recalling at those early days. u00e2 $ My mom utilized to come see on weekend breaks. When she left, I would hold her lower leg and also cry. When she was gone, I would certainly always hold her jacket. This was actually up until I was actually thirteen. After 13, my mama chose to quit her work as well as come stay with me full-time, merely to possess better growth as well as better treatment. Afterwards, it received much easier. As well as our experts relocated to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.