Missing tennis player
Dinner with IOC boss Bach and new irritations: tennis phantom Peng Shuai sends signs of life
Had dinner with IOC President Thomas Bach: Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Recently there had been speculation about her well-being
© Paul Crock / AFP
In Beijing there was a meeting between Peng Shuai and IOC boss Thomas Bach. A new interview in which the Chinese tennis player comments on her case also causes irritation.
The good news: Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is apparently fine. After months of little to no hearing from her, she revived for a brief moment, meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach during the Beijing Winter Olympics. In addition, in an interview, she again denied a sexual assault by a top Chinese politician. She had dinner with the head of the International Olympic Committee on Saturday, the 36-year-old said in an interview with the French sports daily “L’Équipe” published on Monday.
The IOC confirmed the meeting between Bach, former athletes’ spokeswoman Kirsty Coventry and Peng Shuai, where “the three spoke about their shared experiences as athletes at the Olympic Games”. Confidentiality had been agreed between the three parties involved regarding the further content of the conversation.
Polite phrases after a conversation with Thomas Bach
“We discussed a lot and exchanged pleasantly,” said Peng. Her case has been moving the world for a few months after the former world number one in doubles published allegations of sexual assault by a top Chinese politician on the social network Weibo in November.
The post was deleted soon after. Since then, athletes, politicians and human rights activists have expressed concern for Peng’s well-being. Peng Shuai later denied making the allegations. However, their statements seemed posed. She told L’Équipe: “I never said that anyone sexually harassed me in any way.” Again she spoke of a “huge misunderstanding”.
She had never disappeared either, “everyone could see me,” said Peng. She deleted the entry on Weibo herself. When asked why the post disappeared, she replied, “I deleted it.” When asked why she deleted it, the 36-year-old said: “Why? Because I wanted to.” The emails she sent to the WTA players’ organization were also written by herself, she said in the interview.
Peng Shuai: Contradictory statements fuel doubts
In the interview with “L’Equipe” in a hotel room in Beijing Peng was accompanied by the chief of staff of China’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), Wang Kan. The newspaper itself raised doubts about the meaningfulness of the interview. As “L’Equipe” announced, the questions had to be submitted in advance. In addition, Peng’s comments were translated from Chinese by the NOK official.
Peng had already expressed similar reservations at the end of last year. In a video interview with Singapore’s Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, she denied allegations of sexual assault. “I have to emphasize one point that is extremely important: I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me. I have to state that strongly,” she said.
Because the signals from China had not been enough for her before, the WTA women’s tour suspended all tournaments in China and Hong Kong at the beginning of December, although China is an important donor.
According to the IOC announcement, Peng announced a visit to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. She wanted to travel to Europe if the corona pandemic made it possible again, the statement said. Coventry and Peng Shuai have agreed to keep in touch.
The former world number one in doubles no longer expects to return to the tennis tour. In view of her age, her numerous operations and the corona virus pandemic, it is very difficult to imagine that she will reach her usual level again. She hasn’t been training lately, but “always remains a professional tennis player at heart,” said Peng.