.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was populated along with vermillion banners, including a radiance to the presently orangey air originating off the reddish clay-based court.These were actually Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" thousands of themu00e2 $" waving in lively help for Qinwen Zheng, 21, that will soon take gold through beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs ping pong final.As she lay down on the filth, eyes skyward as well as fists stretched right into the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravitational force appeared to sign up: Zheng had just forged the type of record that prolonged far past the coliseum as well as the instant. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had actually made no secret of the truth that the Olympics were actually as, or even more, essential to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic triumph on August 3.Picture: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our team consistently strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s tribute remains in face of personal excellence, u00e2 $ she pointed out over a morning meeting at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Residence, put discreetly in between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Centre in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis region, the time after her victory. u00e2 $ I managed [the Games] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the match, the mindset: It experienced different than intermittent tournament Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in ping pong at grow older 7. At age 8, she moved, without her mama and father, to Wuhan for better training, and since adolescence she has deeply appreciated as well as followed Chinese sportsmens, including the ping pong star Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, that gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually truly difficult, u00e2 $ Zheng mentioned, recalling at those very early times. u00e2 $ My mommy used to find go to on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I would secure her leg as well as cry. When she was actually gone, I will constantly keep her coat. This was till I was thirteen. After thirteen, my mom made a decision to quit her work and also come stay with me full time, simply to have much better development and better treatment. After that, it received less complicated. And our team transferred to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.