.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated along with vermillion ensigns, including a radiance to the already orangey sky rising off the red clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" thousands of themu00e2 $" swing in boisterous assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would 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 dirt, eyes skyward and fists expanded in to the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravity appeared to sign up: Zheng had actually just forged the sort of record that prolonged far past the stadium as well as the instant. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had actually created no secret of the truth that the Olympics were actually as, if not additional, essential to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic victory on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team always believe a countryu00e2 $ s respect is in face of private effectiveness, u00e2 $ she said over a morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete House, tucked quietly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the time after her triumph. u00e2 $ I handled [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotion, the battle, the mentality: It felt various than intermittent tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started participating in ping pong at grow older seven. At grow older 8, she relocated, without her mama and also dad, to Wuhan for better training, and also since teenage years she has profoundly admired and imitated Chinese sportsmens, including the tennis superstar Li Na and also the distance runner Liu Xiang, that succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was definitely hard, u00e2 $ Zheng said, remembering at those very early days. u00e2 $ My mama utilized ahead browse through on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I will keep her leg as well as cry. When she was actually gone, I would regularly keep her jacket. This was actually up until I was actually thirteen. After 13, my mother decided to stop her task as well as happen stick with me full-time, simply to possess much better development and far better care. After that, it received simpler. And our experts moved to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.