I get it. But Vincent got to go to the Olympics in 2018, and he skated extremely well. At one point over this quad when he was attending Brown University, Vincent thought about quitting skating. So, again it's not for me to judge but I think Shoma and Vincent in particular seem to have very sensitive, hard to figure out personalities. Part of it for Shoma, as someone was saying, is his shyness. Plus, being adulated as a skater from such a young age. That's kind of like child actors who are fawned on by adults, and begin to lose a sense of self, or don't gain a sense of who they are and what they want because of being caught up in something all-enveloping that they are prodigies at, when they are very young and their personalities, experiences, and perceptions are still developing.
It also seems like both Shoma and Vincent have trouble figuring out why they are doing what they're doing and if they want to be doing it. And they get caught up in feelings of failure. From what Shoma said, it appears to me that he may have been caught up in competing for the federation, for fans, for his former coaches, maybe for his family, and he just lost a sense of himself (ETA: after he had initially been inspired to emulate Dai Takahashi). Vincent maybe was competing to please an authority figure. This is not to ignore that both guys probably enjoy skating and do want to win. But being young and sensitive, they've had difficulty dealing with outside pressures, and with understanding themselves.
Shoma was really in a bad funk for awhile. And working with Stephane Lambiel has rejuvenated his skating career and his mindset. But he's still growing as a young person. Yuma seems much more grounded, well-rounded and self-motivated than Shoma and Vincent. Yet, Yuma is still very young and growing mentally, physically, emotionally.
www.youtube.com
