Shoma Uno: “There’s not a single failure I wish I didn’t have. I believe that it is only because we had frustrating experiences that we can strive harder.”
Shoma Uno about his last day as a competitive athlete.
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. 4th July 2024 by Mie Noguchi
In the interview series ‘CONNECTORS’ on Number’s YouTube channel, Shoma Uno talks about his retirement and last competitive days. Here’s a translation of his comment.
“I naturally stay awake and get up late. I wanted to sleep right until I had to go, to the point that I even slept with my socks on (laughs). Sometimes I eat breakfast, sometimes I don’t. I can’t remember if I did that day. If I was hungry, I probably ate,” Shoma recalled the day of the men’s free program at the 2024 Worlds.
He shared that he doesn’t let how he feels during official practice, good or bad, bother him. That’s because there’s a gap of time between practice and the actual performance. “When there’s such a gap, there’s no point in worrying about how you feel. Plus, I often sleep after official practice, so I don’t rely on how I feel. I only go to get my body moving during the day, with the mindset that I’ll move even more at night.”
“When I was a kid…In the past, I used to look forward to the free time between practice and performances and would go to competitions just for that. People around me would think, ‘It’s before the competition, so he may be nervous, let’s let him do what he likes.’ There were times when I would play games for the entire eight hours between practice and performance and no one would get mad at me,” also shared Shoma.
“Being able to relax and spend the day of the competition appropriately is because I’ve done the training to the best of my ability up until that day. Especially this time, as it was my last competition, I had prepared with a lot of thought about what would be the best way to do it. And even if thinking too much resulted in a negative outcome, I was prepared to accept it. I’ve had many bad competitions in the past, but most of them have led to following success. There’s not a single failure I wish I didn’t have. In that sense, I was prepared for all emotions.”
“On the bus, I was thinking that I did really well in the short program, but the free program might not be so good,”he continue recalling. “This time as well, I warmed up while watching other athletes’ performances. I’ve been doing skate with the mindset that, whether the result in the actual game is good or bad, I will accept either. Also, if it’s bad, I can link it to success later. After I got into the mindset, I do not become nervous even after seeing other athletes’ performance during the competition.”
“On the day of the short program, I tightened my right foot too hard, but I managed to make a very good quadruple flip so I thought, ‘that hard was alright.’ On the day of the free program, I tightened the lace on my left foot too much, but thinking that the short program went great even then, I decided to go for the free program just like that.”
“The moment it began [his free program], my feet didn’t move as I had thought and I realized, ‘this is a fail.’ I fell at the quadruple loop and thought, ‘just as I assumed,’ and when I stepped out at the quadruple flip, I thought, ‘of course it is.’ I thought there’s no chance for a win, but I resolved to not give up till the end.”
Suddenly, the fact that this was his final performance in his competitive career ran through his mind. “Since I was a child, I’ve been thinking, ‘Why is it that the athletes who have decided to retire usually end their final competition with a good performance? Their mentality is great, there must be some reason.’ But because mine didn’t go well at all, I skated thinking, ‘This is different from what I’ve heard.”
“I realised from my expressions that I was able to do it. I was interested to see how I would feel when I didn’t perform well even after practicing my best. I wondered, ‘Can I really accept myself?’ And this time, I realised that I could truly accept it. Regardless of what I do in the future, while the outcome matters, I want to appreciate the process just as much.”
He finished his performance a wistful smile. However, that smile changed the moment he saw coach Stephane Lambiel, as they hugged, tears naturally flowed down his cheeks. “Those weren’t tears of regret over my performance, but tears of gratitude for Stephane. I told him that I was crying not because of the performance but because I felt I had made the best choices and was grateful to Stephane. We both shed tears as we reflected on various things.”
Revisiting that moment, he said, “It’s rare for me to cry because of skating. Back when I was a child it was different, but since moving to seniors, the only time I cried was when I finished eighth at the 2019 in France without a coach.”
“I did feel that I wanted to do better, so depending on how I managed my feelings, I could have felt frustrated. But on the last day, I didn’t see any need to bring my feelings down unnecessarily. I wanted to keep them as positive as possible. It wasn’t a good performance in terms of the results, but that might also lead to a better future as a professional skater. I might be thinking too positively. But I think not being completely satisfied with my last performance could motivate me to work a bit harder the next time I do something. I believe that it is only because we had frustrating experiences that we can strive harder.”
Related topics: Shoma Uno
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