.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion banners, adding a radiance to the actually orangey sky emanating off the red clay court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" hundreds of themu00e2 $" waving in energetic help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that would certainly very soon take gold through defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people ping pong final.As she put down on the dirt, eyes skyward and fists stretched into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravity appeared to enroll: Zheng had actually simply created the kind of past history that expanded much past the coliseum and also the instant. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had actually made obvious of the reality that the Olympics were actually as, otherwise more, significant to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Picture: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our experts constantly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s honor remains in front of individual results, u00e2 $ she claimed over a morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete Home, put quietly between the Stade de France and also the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis location, the day after her accomplishment. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Video games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the match, the way of thinking: It felt various than every other tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing ping pong at age seven. At grow older eight, she relocated, without her mommy and daddy, to Wuhan for better mentoring, as well as considering that teenage years she has greatly admired and replicated Mandarin athletes, such as the tennis star Li Na as well as the runner Liu Xiang, who gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was really tough, u00e2 $ Zheng claimed, recalling at those very early days. u00e2 $ My mommy utilized to find visit on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I would certainly secure her lower leg as well as cry. When she was actually gone, I will consistently hold her jacket. This was actually till I was thirteen. After 13, my mommy made a decision to quit her project as well as happen visit me full-time, only to have much better development as well as much better care. Afterwards, it acquired simpler. And also our team moved to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.