.The scene in the platforms at Roland Garrosu00e2 $ s Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier was dotted along with vermillion banners, adding a glow to the already orangey sky originating off the reddish clay-based court.These were Chinese flagsu00e2 $" hundreds of themu00e2 $" waving in energetic assistance for Qinwen Zheng, 21, who will soon take gold through defeating Croatiau00e2 $ s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the womenu00e2 $ s single people tennis final.As she lay down on the dirt, eyes skyward and fists stretched in to the Paris fog, the winu00e2 $ s gravity seemed to sign up: Zheng had actually merely created the kind of background that stretched much past the stadium and the minute. This was Chinau00e2 $ s first-ever Olympic gold award in the sportu00e2 $" and Zheng had made obvious of the truth that the Olympics were as, otherwise more, important to her than a Grand Slam.Zheng commemorates her Olympic success on August 3.Photo: Getty Imagesu00e2 $ In China, we regularly strongly believe a countryu00e2 $ s respect resides in face of individual effectiveness, u00e2 $ she stated over a morning conference at Nikeu00e2 $ s Athlete Residence, put discreetly between the Stade de France as well as the Aquatics Facility in Parisu00e2 $ s St. Denis area, the time after her accomplishment. u00e2 $ I dealt with [the Gamings] differentlyu00e2 $" the emotional state, the battle, the mindset: It felt different than every other event Iu00e2 $ ve played.u00e2 $ Born in 2002 in Shiyan, China, Zheng began playing tennis at grow older seven. At age eight, she moved, without her mommy and also father, to Wuhan for much better training, as well as since teenage years she has profoundly admired and emulated Chinese professional athletes, such as the tennis superstar Li Na as well as the distance runner Liu Xiang, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.u00e2 $ It was actually truly challenging, u00e2 $ Zheng said, recalling at those very early days. u00e2 $ My mommy utilized to follow visit on weekends. When she left, I will hold her lower leg and also weep. When she was gone, I would certainly consistently hold her coat. This was actually up until I was 13. After thirteen, my mom decided to quit her job as well as come remain with me full time, just to have far better growth and better treatment. After that, it received simpler. And also our team relocated to Europe when I was 17. u00e2 $.