.The scene in the stands at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courthouse Philippe-Chatrier was actually populated along with vermillion banners, including a radiance to the currently orangey sky emanating off the reddish clay court.These were actually Mandarin flagsu00e2 $" hundreds of themu00e2 $" swaying in energetic assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who would soon take gold through beating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people tennis final.As she lay down on the filth, eyes skyward and also fists extended into the Paris haze, the winu00e2 $ s gravity appeared to enroll: Zheng had actually simply forged the kind of record that expanded much past the coliseum as well as the second. This was actually Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sportu00e2 $" as well as Zheng had made clear of the reality that the Olympics were actually as, if not additional, significant to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic victory on August 3.Photograph: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, our company regularly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s respect resides in front of individual excellence, u00e2 $ she mentioned over an early morning appointment at Nikeu00e2 $ s Professional athlete House, put quietly between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the time after her conquest. u00e2 $ I handled [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the feeling, the match, the way of thinking: It really felt different than intermittent competition Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Birthed in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began participating in tennis at age 7. At grow older 8, she relocated, without her mother and also papa, to Wuhan for much better training, and also since adolescence she has actually deeply appreciated and mimicked Chinese sportsmens, including the ping pong star Li Na and the jogger Liu Xiang, that gained gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was truly challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng pointed out, recalling at those early times. u00e2 $ My mom made use of to find check out on weekend breaks. When she left behind, I will secure her leg and also cry. When she was gone, I would consistently store her coat. This was till I was actually thirteen. After 13, my mother decided to quit her project and also come stick with me full-time, simply to have better development and better treatment. Afterwards, it obtained much easier. And also our experts relocated to Europe when I was actually 17. u00e2 $.