Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was closely watched by a Chinese Olympic official as she repeated her retraction of her allegation that she was sexually assaulted by a Communist Party boss.
In November, Peng, 36, took to social media platform Weibo to accuse former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of coercing her into having sex.
The post was swiftly deleted, and then grave fears were raised over Peng's safety as she seemingly disappeared from the public eye.
However, two weeks later she appeared via state media, but still fans and tennis officials weren't convinced, with the dubious footage appearing to be staged.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) also took the step of cancelling all tennis events in China for the foreseeable future.
However, she has attended numerous events at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and then supposedly spoke unrestricted in an interview with French newspaper L'Équipe.
“I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” she claimed, clearly contradicting her previous claim.
She put the saga down to a "huge misunderstanding," and insisted she had never actually disappeared.
However, the interview has since aroused further suspicion, with the star posing for a picture in a Beijing hotel - but a mirror on the wall in the picture clearly shows Chinese Olympic Committee chief of staff Wang Kan watching over her from the doorway.
Strangely, Kan also translated her answers for her, despite the star having previously conversed with reporters in English.
L’Equipe’s Marc Ventouillac, one of the two reporters to conduct the interview, told the Associated Press this week Peng “seems to be healthy."
However, he wasn't convinced when asked if she thought she was safe, admitting: “It’s impossible to say."
“She answered our questions without hesitating — with, I imagine, answers that she knew. She knew what she was going to say," added Ventouillac.
The WTA have also reacted to the interview, taking to Twitter to state that it was “good to see” Peng, but also emphasising that the development “does not alleviate any of our concerns about her initial post from November 2."
Peng has frequently been cited at events in Beijing in the past week, and has also met with President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach.
Numerous fellow tennis professionals have voiced concern over her welfare, whilst fans wore t-shirts sporting the slogan 'Where is Peng Shuai?' at the Australian Open.
