National honor is above everything else! Zheng Qinwen touched China s figure of the year, and the Paris Olympics created Asian history

Text | Yiyu

21-year-old Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen stood on the stage that moved China, holding a trophy that symbolizes honor in his hand.

Just a year ago, she made history on the clay court of the Paris Olympics!

won the first Olympic women's singles gold medal in Chinese tennis history and became the first Olympic tennis singles champion in Asia. This gold medal not only rewrites the history of Asian tennis, but also touches her the entire China. On the stadium of the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen showed amazing willpower. In the third round, facing American player Navarro, she lost one set first, fell behind 1-3 in the second set and encountered the match point. This game, which took more than 3 hours, became a microcosm of her Olympic journey. In the semi-finals, she faced Svatech, the world's No. 1 "Clay Queen" at that time. Zheng Qinwen, who had lost all six previous matches, staged a Jedi counterattack in a passive situation of falling behind 0-4, defeating his opponent 7-5, ending his embarrassing record of losing streak. After the game, she admitted: "I'm very tired, but if I told me that I need to play another three-hour game for the country, I'm still willing." On the eve of the final, Zheng Qinwen was so nervous that he couldn't hold the racket. But when she walked into the Roland Garros Stadium and saw the five-star red flag flying high in the audience, a force instantly injected into her body. In the end, she defeated Croatian player Wikic in straight sets 6-2 and 6-3, winning this meaningful gold medal for China.

The moment she won the championship, she threw away her racket and lay on the clay, tears and sweat intertwined: "If it was an ordinary game, maybe I would have lost, but this is the Olympics, and the five-star red flag is cheering for me."

This tennis genius, known as the "Rocket Girl", did not start her career in her own right. In August 2020, when 17-year-old Zheng Qinwen officially stepped onto the professional arena, the world ranking was only 630th.

But she rose at an astonishing speed and entered the top 50 in just two years. She is affectionately called "Rocket Girl" by fans. 2024 was a brilliant year for her. In addition to the Olympic gold medal, she also won the second runner-up in the Australian Open, the Tokyo W500 Championship, the Palermo Station Championship, and won the runner-up in the year-end finals.

The award speech given to her by the organizing committee of "Touching China" accurately summarizes her spirit: "The mountains and seas can be leveled, and the laurels have been won. You are the fire of the offensive, the rising arrows, the back waves on the red clay, and the strong man in the Olympic field. Starting at the end of the road, confidence breaks through barriers, and sweat waters dreams. You use your racket to show the power of China to the world."

Zheng Qinwen interprets what the true sports spirit is with practical actions. Not only for personal honor, but also for national glory. As she said: "The honor of the country will always exceed that of individuals."

This 21-year-old tennis star has become a role model for inspiring countless Chinese people with her hard work and persistence.