.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courthouse Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated with vermillion banners, incorporating a radiance to the currently orangey air originating off the red clay court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" numerous themu00e2 $" waving in energetic assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would certainly soon take gold through defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs ping pong final.As she lay down on the dust, eyes skyward and also fists prolonged into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation appeared to sign up: Zheng had actually simply forged the sort of background that extended much past the coliseum and the instant. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had actually created clear of the fact that the Olympics were as, otherwise additional, significant to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic triumph on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team regularly think a countryu00e2 $ s tribute remains in front end of individual excellence, u00e2 $ she claimed over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Sportsmen Property, put quietly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the day after her conquest. u00e2 $ I managed [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotion, the battle, the mindset: It experienced different than intermittent event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began playing ping pong at age seven. At age 8, she relocated, without her mother and dad, to Wuhan for better coaching, and given that teenage years she has deeply admired and also replicated Chinese professional athletes, such as the tennis superstar Li Na and also the distance runner Liu Xiang, who succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually actually hard, u00e2 $ Zheng claimed, remembering at those very early times. u00e2 $ My mom utilized to come check out on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I will hold her lower leg and weep. When she was actually gone, I would constantly store her coat. This was actually till I was actually 13. After 13, my mother decided to quit her work as well as come visit me full time, simply to have better development as well as far better care. Afterwards, it got simpler. And our team relocated to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.