.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was actually dotted with vermillion ensigns, including a glow to the actually orangey air rising off the red clay-based court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" manies themu00e2 $" waving in boisterous assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will very soon take gold by defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s songs tennis final.As she set on the gunk, eyes skyward and fists stretched right into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravitation seemed to be to sign up: Zheng had actually just shaped the type of past history that expanded much past the coliseum as well as the instant. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" and also Zheng had actually created obvious of the simple fact that the Olympics were actually as, otherwise more, important to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng celebrates her Olympic success on August 3.Image: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our experts regularly think a countryu00e2 $ s tribute remains in face of individual effectiveness, u00e2 $ she claimed over an early morning appointment at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete House, put quietly between the Stade de France and also the Aquatics Center in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis location, the day after her triumph. u00e2 $ I addressed [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotion, the match, the mentality: It really felt different than intermittent competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng started playing tennis at age seven. At age 8, she moved, without her mommy and dad, to Wuhan for much better mentoring, and also because teenage years she has actually heavily admired and emulated Chinese sportsmens, such as the ping pong superstar Li Na and also the distance runner Liu Xiang, who succeeded gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually actually challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng stated, looking back at those early times. u00e2 $ My mama made use of to come browse through on weekends. When she left, I will keep her lower leg as well as cry. When she was gone, I will always keep her jacket. This was till I was actually 13. After thirteen, my mother decided to stop her work and also come visit me full time, simply to have better development and also far better care. Afterwards, it received much easier. As well as our company transferred to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.