Speaking to French sports outlet L’Équipe, 36-year-old Peng announced her retirement and thanked international athletes and Women’s Tennis Association players for reaching out, but said she had not expected the outcry.

“This post has given rise to a huge misunderstanding from the outside world,” Peng said in an interview published Monday, referring to the account she posted on Chinese microblog Weibo in November about a fraught sexual relationship with powerful former vice premier Zhang Gaoli. “I hope that we no longer distort the meaning of this post. And I also hope that we don’t add more hype on this.”

The hour-long interview of arranged questions, the answers to which L’Équipe was required to release in full, was conducted at the Chinese Olympic Committee’s hotel in Beijing inside the coronavirus-fighting “closed loop” set up for the Winter Olympics. Wang Kan, chief of staff for the COC, was with Peng as she spoke.

“I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” said Peng, dressed in a red Team China sweater. Since the post, she added, “My life has been what it’s supposed to be: nothing special.” She also announced her retirement from competitive tennis.