.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated along with vermillion banners, adding a radiance to the already orangey air emanating off the reddish clay court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" hundreds of themu00e2 $" waving in energetic help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will very soon take gold through beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs tennis final.As she put down on the dirt, eyes skyward and fists stretched right into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation seemed to enroll: Zheng had actually merely forged the type of background that stretched much past the coliseum as well as the second. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had created no secret of the reality that the Olympics were as, otherwise additional, essential to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we constantly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s honor resides in front end of personal results, u00e2 $ she said over a morning appointment at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Property, tucked discreetly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the time after her conquest. u00e2 $ I handled [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the match, the attitude: It really felt different than intermittent event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started participating in ping pong at age 7. At age eight, she relocated, without her mom and father, to Wuhan for better training, and also because teenage years she has actually profoundly admired and also imitated Mandarin professional athletes, such as the tennis superstar Li Na and also the runner Liu Xiang, who succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually definitely challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng mentioned, recalling at those early days. u00e2 $ My mom used ahead browse through on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I would certainly keep her lower leg as well as cry. When she was gone, I would certainly always hold her jacket. This was actually up until I was 13. After 13, my mommy chose to quit her job and come stay with me permanent, only to have much better development as well as much better care. After that, it acquired simpler. And also our company moved to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.