.The performance in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was actually dotted with vermillion banners, including a radiance to the presently orangey sky emanating off the reddish clay court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" dozens themu00e2 $" swaying in loud support for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will soon take gold by beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people ping pong final.As she lay down on the dirt, eyes skyward as well as fists stretched in to the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravity seemed to be to sign up: Zheng had simply built the kind of history that stretched far past the coliseum as well as the moment. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had made obvious of the truth that the Olympics were as, or even additional, vital to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our company regularly believe a countryu00e2 $ s tribute resides in face of individual success, u00e2 $ she stated over an early morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete Property, put quietly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Centre in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis place, the time after her victory. u00e2 $ I alleviated [the Video games] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the fight, the mentality: It felt various than every other competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in tennis at grow older 7. At age 8, she relocated, without her mom and papa, to Wuhan for better coaching, as well as considering that teenage years she has actually greatly appreciated and imitated Chinese professional athletes, like the ping pong superstar Li Na as well as the jogger Liu Xiang, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually actually difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng mentioned, recalling at those early days. u00e2 $ My mother utilized to come go to on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I would hold her leg and weep. When she was actually gone, I would constantly store her jacket. This was until I was thirteen. After thirteen, my mama determined to stop her job and come stay with me permanent, merely to have much better development and far better treatment. After that, it acquired easier. And also our team moved to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.