.The performance in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was dotted with vermillion streamers, including a glow to the currently orangey air rising off the reddish clay court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" numerous themu00e2 $" waving in loud support for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that would certainly soon take gold by beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles ping pong final.As she lay down on the dust, eyes skyward and also fists prolonged into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force appeared to register: Zheng had just forged the type of past history that stretched much past the arena and also the second. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had actually created obvious of the truth that the Olympics were as, if not even more, crucial to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team always believe a countryu00e2 $ s honor resides in face of individual excellence, u00e2 $ she stated over a morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Sportsmen Property, tucked discreetly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the time after her accomplishment. u00e2 $ I addressed [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotion, the fight, the way of thinking: It really felt different than every other competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started participating in ping pong at grow older seven. At grow older 8, she relocated, without her mother and also daddy, to Wuhan for better mentoring, and considering that adolescence she has deeply admired and also mimicked Mandarin professional athletes, such as the ping pong celebrity Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, that gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng claimed, looking back at those early times. u00e2 $ My mom utilized to follow see on weekends. When she left behind, I would certainly keep her lower leg and weep. When she was gone, I would constantly store her coat. This was up until I was thirteen. After 13, my mama determined to stop her task as well as come stick with me permanent, merely to have far better growth and much better care. Afterwards, it got less complicated. As well as our experts transferred to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.