Peng Shuai appears at Winter Olympics but denies she made sexual assault claim

PENG SHUAI has denied she was sexually assaulted by an ex-Chinese language authorities official in her first interview with western media throughout the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Shuai, the 2013 Wimbledon doubles champion, has been the topic of nice concern inside the world sporting neighborhood ever since a 1,600-word publish appeared on social media platform Weibo that made claims in opposition to former senior vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.

The message was shortly deleted and this led to tennis stars like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka calling for extra info on her whereabouts and security.

The WTA, the governing physique of girls’s tennis, have been unable to contact the 36-year-old star for months and have since determined to withdraw future tournaments from China.

Over the weekend, French publication L’Equipe had been allowed entry to interview Peng in a Beijing resort room.

It’s understood Peng was accompanied by Wang Kan, the chief of workers of the Chinese language Olympic Committee, which raises issues about whether or not she is ready to converse freely.

Former world No.14 Peng mentioned: “I don’t assume I used to be conscious of all of it (world curiosity) as a result of I don’t watch the information from international media a lot.

“I can’t learn in English however I heard about it. I by no means thought there’d be such fear, although, and I’d wish to know why was that the case?

“Sexual assault? I by no means mentioned anybody had sexually assaulted me in any manner.

“There was an enormous misunderstanding within the outdoors world following this publish.

“I don’t need the which means of this publish to be twisted anymore. And I don’t need any additional media hype round it.

“I by no means disappeared. Everybody might see me. I by no means disappeared.

“It’s simply that many individuals, like my buddies or folks from the IOC messaged me, and it was merely inconceivable to reply so many messages.

“However I’ve been at all times in shut contact with my shut buddies.

“I talked to them, I answered their emails, I additionally talked with the WTA.

“On the finish of the 12 months, the communication IT system of their web site was modified and lots of gamers had difficulties logging in. However my colleagues and I at all times stayed in contact.

“That’s why I don’t know why the information I had disappeared unfold.”

Peng lastly met with IOC President Thomas Bach after being allowed to enter the closed-loop system.

The assembly passed off over dinner on Saturday evening on the Olympic Membership in Beijing, with former IOC Athletes’ Fee chair Kirsty Coventry in attendance.

That very same night Peng attended a curling conflict between China and Norway on the Ice Dice however no official photographs have been issued.

An IOC assertion mentioned: “Peng Shuai knowledgeable the President that she would attend a number of occasions on the Olympic Winter Video games Beijing 2022 over the approaching days.

“Later that night, she and Kirsty Coventry attended the combined curling match between China and Norway.

“In the course of the dinner, the three spoke about their widespread expertise as athletes on the Olympic Video games, and Peng Shuai spoke of her disappointment at not with the ability to qualify for the Olympic Video games Tokyo 2020.

“On this context, she additionally shared her intention to journey to Europe when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, and the IOC President invited her to Lausanne to go to the IOC and The Olympic Museum, to proceed the dialog on their Olympic experiences.

“Peng Shuai accepted this invitation.

“Kirsty Coventry and Peng Shuai additionally agreed that they’d stay involved.

“And all three agreed that any additional communication concerning the content material of the assembly could be left to her discretion.”