“He asked me if I was thinking of going back to the competition, what my projects were, what I anticipate, etc.”explained Peng In an interview with two journalists from L’Equipe in a hotel inside the Olympic bubble of Beijing.
Dressed in red and black sportswear, Peng Shuai36 years old, “appeared in good shape”according to the journalists who conducted the interview, the first with an independent international media outlet since November.
She took the opportunity to say that “never disappeared”after spending weeks without showing himself in public after denouncing last November on a social network that he had a forced sexual relationship for years with a Chinese leader, the deputy prime minister Zhang Gaoli.
“Simply, many people like my friends and people from the IOC sent me messages and it was impossible for me to answer so many messages. But with my close friends I am still in close contact, I have spoken with them, responded to their messages, and also with the WTA”he added.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has maintained a firm position of demanding explanations from China about the situation of Peng after your complaint.
The complaint of Peng was deleted from the Chinese social network Weiboand the tennis player disappeared from the public eye for weeks, raising fears about her situation, until she appeared in a videoconference conversation with Thomas Bach on November 21.
On Thursday, two days before the meeting of Bach Y Pengthe IOC said “would support” to the tennis player if she decides to demand the opening of an investigation into the complaint of a forced sexual relationship.
“If she wants an investigation (on the complaint) it is sure that we will support her, but it has to be her decision, that is the way, they are her accusations”declared Bach at a press conference on the eve of the opening of the Games from Beijing.
Peng denied in the interview that he had denounced a “sexual assault”. “Sexual assault? I have never said that someone has made me suffer any sexual assault”he insisted.
When asked why the complaint message was deleted, she replied “because I wanted it that way”. “There was a huge misunderstanding in the outside world after this post”he said during the interview in the bubble of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
“I don’t want the meaning of this post to be further distorted. And I don’t want any more media hype about it.”he added. “My life has been as it should be: nothing special”commented the tennis player when asked about her life after November.
“First I would like people to really understand who I am: I am a normal girl, a perfectly ordinary tennis player. Sometimes I am serene, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. I can feel very stressed or under a lot of pressure (…) All the feelings and reactions that women have, I feel them too”he expressed.
Peng was accompanied by the chief of staff of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Wang KhanDuring the Interview.
The IOC confirmed in a statement that Bach and the former swimmer Kirsty Coventrymember of the IOCmet with Pengand pointed out that the tennis player would attend several events of the Games of Beijing.
“All three agreed that any communication about the content of the meeting would be at his (Peng’s) discretion.”according to the statement.
The Olympic body indicated that the IOC reiterated the invitation to visit its Olympic headquarters in Swiss.
In the interview, the tennis player announced the end of her professional career, except, perhaps, “in a team of veterans”he said between laughs.
“Tennis completely changed my life, it gave me joys, challenges and much more (…) Even if I don’t participate in professional competitions anymore, I will always be a tennis player”Held.
After the complaint, the player only appeared in some videos in which she attended sporting events, although it did not dispel fears about her full freedom of movement.
Source: Ambito
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