Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai denied claiming she was sexually assaulted in an interview during the Beijing Olympics.
Shuai, who inspired concern from the international community after posting about being sexually assaulted by a Chinese Communist Party official in November, now claims she never alleged suffering a sexual assault.
“Sexual assault? I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault,” Shuai said in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe on Sunday.
TICKETS TO 2022 SUPER BOWL MOST EXPENSIVE ON RECORD
“This post resulted in an enormous misunderstanding from the outside world,” she also told L’equipe. “My wish is that the meaning of this post no longer be skewed.”
When asked why the November 2021 post providing detail about her sexual assault had disappeared, Shuai said, “I erased it.” She later added that she deleted it because she “wanted to.”
Shuai also emphasized that she was living a “normal life,” a phrase used by Chinese officials to dismiss notions that anything had happened to Shuai.
“I was to say first of all that emotions, sport, and politics are three clearly separate things,” L’equipe quoted her as saying. “My romantic problems, my private life, should not be mixed with sport and politics.” Shuai’s remarks resemble China’s, which attacked decisions by other countries to boycott the Olympics by denouncing the mixture of sport and politics.
L’equipe’s interview was highly regulated, reported the Associated Press. All questions had to be submitted in advance. L’equipe’s correspondent conducted the interview in the presence of a Chinese Olympic Committee representative, who translated the comments for the paper.
Shuai expressed thankfulness for the other groups and players expressing concerns for her safety but appeared confused by the expression.
“I would like to know: Why so much worry?” she asked. “I never disappeared. It’s simply that many people, like my friends and among them, those from the [International Olympic Committee], sent me messages, and it was completely impossible to respond to so many messages.”
The IOC also attempted to defuse concerns about Shuai with an announcement that IOC President Thomas Bach had dined with Shuai on Saturday, a day after the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The pair discussed Olympic experiences and the tennis player’s future, including her decision to appear at several winter Olympic events and travel to Europe after the pandemic. The IOC does not mention Shuai’s disappearance or her alleged sexual assault.
Shuai’s disappearance for several weeks and China’s unwillingness to answer questions about the tennis player’s fate led to the World Tennis Association suspending all Chinese tournaments in early December. Several players also expressed concerns about Shuai’s status. Shuai reappeared in December but has regularly attempted to dismiss the international community’s concerns about her safety.
