.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Court Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion streamers, adding a glow to the actually orangey sky emanating off the reddish clay-based court.These were Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" thousands of themu00e2 $" waving in loud help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that will soon take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s singles ping pong final.As she put down on the dirt, eyes skyward and also fists prolonged in to the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force seemed to sign up: Zheng had actually just forged the type of record that stretched far past the coliseum and also the moment. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had made no secret of the simple fact that the Olympics were actually as, if not even more, crucial to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Photograph: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team regularly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s honor is in front end of individual results, u00e2 $ she said over a morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Sportsmen Property, tucked discreetly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Centre in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis location, the time after her conquest. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Video games] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the fight, the mentality: It really felt various than every other competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing ping pong at grow older seven. At grow older 8, she moved, without her mama and papa, to Wuhan for far better training, as well as since teenage years she has actually greatly admired and also followed Mandarin professional athletes, including the ping pong superstar Li Na and also the jogger Liu Xiang, that succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually truly difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng claimed, looking back at those early times. u00e2 $ My mom utilized ahead check out on weekend breaks. When she left, I would certainly secure her leg and weep. When she was actually gone, I will regularly store her coat. This was till I was thirteen. After thirteen, my mother decided to stop her project as well as happen stay with me full time, just to possess better growth and also better treatment. After that, it got less complicated. And our experts relocated to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.