On Saturday, according to the I.O.C., Peng told Bach that she was disappointed that she didn’t qualify for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last summer, but planned to travel to Europe “once the pandemic was over.” It added that Coventry and Peng would remain in contact and that “all three agreed that any further communication about the content of the meeting would be left to her discretion.”
Bach had said last week that the I.O.C. would only call for an official inquiry into Peng’s initial sexual assault accusations if she had asked them to do so.
In response to a question about whether the I.O.C. had discussed a potential investigation with anyone, Adams referred journalists on Monday to an interview Peng conducted with L’Equipe, a French sports daily, that was published Monday. In it, Peng once again claimed that the situation, and her accusation, had been a misunderstanding.
The hourlong interview with Peng, according to L’Equipe, was arranged on Sunday by China’s Olympic committee. The newspaper said that it was required to submit questions for Peng in advance, and her comments in Chinese were translated by a Chinese Olympic committee official.
“Sexual assault? I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault,” Peng said, according to L’Equipe. “This post resulted in an enormous misunderstanding from the outside world,” she added. “My wish is that the meaning of this post no longer be skewed.”
Peng was asked why her original post containing the sexual assault accusation had been erased from her account.
“I erased it,” she said, adding: “Why? Because I wanted to.”
She also told the newspaper that she was retiring from tennis.