.The performance in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion streamers, including a radiance to the actually orangey sky originating off the reddish clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" numerous themu00e2 $" swing in boisterous support for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will soon take gold through defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people ping pong final.As she set on the dirt, eyes skyward and also fists extended right into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation seemed to be to register: Zheng had actually merely forged the sort of record that extended much past the stadium and the moment. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had made obvious of the truth that the Olympics were actually as, if not additional, necessary to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our experts consistently think a countryu00e2 $ s respect is in front of private results, u00e2 $ she mentioned over an early morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete House, put inconspicuously in between the Stade de France and also the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis location, the time after her accomplishment. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the battle, the attitude: It experienced different than every other event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started participating in ping pong at age 7. At grow older eight, she relocated, without her mommy and also daddy, to Wuhan for better mentoring, and also considering that teenage years she has profoundly marvelled at and also followed Chinese athletes, such as the ping pong superstar Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was truly hard, u00e2 $ Zheng claimed, recalling at those early days. u00e2 $ My mommy utilized to come go to on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I would certainly secure her lower leg as well as weep. When she was actually gone, I would certainly constantly hold her jacket. This was actually till I was actually 13. After 13, my mama made a decision to stop her job and come stick with me permanent, simply to have better growth as well as better treatment. After that, it got less complicated. As well as our team moved to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.