Peng Shuai laughed and joked as she watched Eileen Gu win Olympic gold, but tennis bosses still fear for her safety

• Peng Shuai sat with IOC president Thomas Bach to watch Eileen Gu win her first Olympic gold medal.
• Peng was also seen watching US-born figure skater Zhu Yi representing China on Monday.

Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis player who went missing after accusing a former Chinese official of sexual assault, made a public appearance at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday.

Peng was seen watching China's Eileen Gu win gold in the women's big-air competition. Gu, whose mother is Chinese, is a topic of much discussion at the Beijing Games, having grown up in San Francisco and previously represented the US before choosing China.

On Tuesday, Peng could be seen in the stands wearing a face mask, a black knit hat with the Olympic rings on it, and a black coat with the Chinese flag on it.

At one point during the event, she sat next to Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee's president, with whom she met for dinner on Saturday. On a TV broadcast by Eurosport, Peng could be seen laughing and joking with Bach.

Reuters reported that Peng acknowledged a greeting from a journalist but declined to answer further questions as she left the venue.

—James Gray (@jamesgraysport) February 8, 2022

It's unclear whether Peng's appearance was coordinated by the IOC or Chinese authorities, but she had a prominent position in the stands, sitting in the front row, close to the athletes.

She was also seen at the team figure-skating event on Monday, which Zhu Yi, another US-born athlete competing for China, took part in.

Peng's well-being became a matter of global concern in November after she accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her.

The accusation, made in a social-media post, was quickly removed, and the 36-year-old subsequently vanished from the public eye for almost three weeks.

She has since conducted only a handful of interviews with the press, the latest of which came on Sunday with the French newspaper L'Équipe, in which she disavowed her previous accusation against Zhang for a second time.

"Sexual assault? I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way," she said, adding that she believed the situation was "an enormous misunderstanding."

In the L'Équipe interview, she also denied that she went missing and announced her sudden retirement from tennis.

Sunday's interview and her two Olympic appearances have done little to alleviate concerns over Peng's safety for some.

Following her interview with L'Équipe, Steve Simon, the chair of the Women's Tennis Association, expressed his worries in a statement.

"It's always good to see Peng Shuai, whether in an interview or attending the Olympic Games," wrote Simon, who has previously been outspoken about Peng's situation.

"However, her recent in-person interview does not alleviate any of our concerns about her initial post from November 2.

"To reiterate our view, Peng took a bold step in publicly coming forth with the accusation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior Chinese government leader. As we would do with any of our players globally, we have called for a formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng — privately — to discuss her situation.

"We continue to hold firm on our position and our thoughts remain with Peng Shuai."

Gu, who was born in the US but made the decision to represent China in 2019, sidestepped a question about Peng's well-being after her victory.

"It's a big honor when athletes from different sports, you know, especially if more widely known sports like tennis, come paying attention to smaller sports like free skiing. I think it gives us an amazing platform to hopefully spread our small sport to the rest of the world," the teenager said.

She added, "I'm really grateful that she's happy and healthy and out there doing her things again."