The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics concluded with a historic moment for Chinese sports as Zheng Qinwen secured the women's singles tennis gold medal.
On Saturday, Chinese athletes wrapped up their competitions with an impressive tally of three gold and three silver medals. Zheng's remarkable victory at Roland Garros, where she defeated Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3, stood out as the most celebrated achievement of the Games.
With this triumph, Zheng Qinwen not only became the first Chinese and first Asian player to win an Olympic singles tennis event but also marked China's second gold in Olympic tennis history. This follows the women's doubles title won by Li Na and Sun Tiantian in Athens 2004.
Expressing her joy, Zheng said, \"Right now I feel super excited. Because before the Olympic Games, I haven't thought I got to win the gold medal. I always have expectations since 2022 for this Olympic Games, but the moment I won this gold medal, nothing can describe this feeling because I have been working so hard for this moment, representing the country. And I'm so happy to become the first one and make the history for China.\"
She also paid tribute to her inspiration, adding, \"Li Na inspired me a lot when I was a child. She put the dream seed inside me when she won her first Grand Slams, when she broke the records for Asian girls in tennis. Right now, here I am. I'm really happy to become the first one to win the Olympic medal for China in tennis. And I hope that my achievement can inspire more young kids, make them love tennis, because I always feel tennis is such a great sport.\"
Reference(s):
Zheng Qinwen becomes first Asian Olympic tennis singles gold medalist
cgtn.com
