Journalists from the prestigious sports daily L’Équipe spoke to Pcheng Shui during an hour-long meeting at a hotel in Beijing organized by the Chinese Olympic Committee.
They had to ask questions first, and a man who translated the tennis player’s statements from Chinese took part in the interview.
Today, the International Olympic Committee also announced that Pcheng Shui had met with IOC President Thomas Bach for dinner on Saturday and attended the China-Norway curling match with IOC member Kirsty Coventry.
Two-time Olympic doubles champion Pcheng Shui on Social Network Weibo accused influential former official Chang Kao-lima of sexual assault in early November.
After that, he disappeared from public life for a while, which caused concern in the world about his safety and free speech. The interview for L’Équipe is his first foreign media interview since the scandal broke.
“Sexual assault? I never said anyone attacked me,” Pcheng Shui told French newspapers.
“It was just our concern at the time. I want that message to be no longer distorted,” added the 36-year-old.
Asked by L’Équipe why the post disappeared from his account as soon as it was published, Pcheng Shui simply replied: “I deleted it. Why? Because I wanted to,” he said without elaborating.
In the interview, Pcheng Shui also avoided a direct answer to the question of whether he had had problems with the Chinese authorities since the publication of the newspaper.
“I would like to say that feelings, sport and politics are three very different things. My emotional problems, my personal life, should not be mixed with sports and politics,” said the tennis player. When asked what his life has been like since November, he replied: “It should be. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Pcheng Shui denied sexual assault in a video last Christmas. He has also been in contact with the IOC several times, but international concerns about his safety have not eliminated him.
Because of this, the women’s tennis organization WTA has suspended this year’s tournament in China.
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