Responding to [bold]R 448[/bold] from thread 3:
[quote][italic]1) Anyone, who has been following Takahashi's career during that time knows the context of those "violent" episodes you referred to. The way you put it made it sound like he has chronic anger issues. I'm sure most people can relate to crying or losing your temper out of frustration, disappointment, physical or mental exhaustion when no matter how badly you want to and how hard you try you can't overcome your own limitations at a certain point. Yes, he admitted he threw his cellphone at his trainer once and his bag and boots across the locker-room a couple of times in tears. He snapped when he had to take a slew of setbacks shortly before Sochi, exhausted from sleep deprivation due to the constant pain in his knee and the bothering medical contraption he had to wear at night and nothing worked out the way he imagined.[/italic]
No, it wasn’t just before Sochi. It happened over at least two Olympic cycles and the mobile phone-throwing incident wasn’t a one-time thing, according to his team and Takahashi himself.
Nikkei Shinbun (2012/1/26, [bold]about 2008[/bold] www. nikkei. com/article/DGXZZO38212760S2A120C1000000/?df=4) : [quote]よく長光コーチらとケンカしました。原因は僕の八つ当たり。トレーナーには携帯を投げちゃったことも……。トレーニングより、心のケアのための時間の方が多かったと思います。”I often fought with Coach Nagamitsu and the others. I took my anger out on them. I even threw my mobile phone at my trainer…. I think I spent more time on my mental health than training.”
Nikkei Shinbun (2010/9/22, [bold]about 2009[/bold] www. nikkei .com/article/DGXZZO14974170Q0A920C1000000/): [quote]疲れるとイライラして機嫌が悪くなってしまいます。今だから言えるのですが、去年は12月ごろまで本当にひどかった。いろんな人やモノに八つ当たりして、恥ずかしながら、携帯電話を壊しそうになったこともあります。”When I get tired, I become irritated and upset. I can finally talk about it now, but last year, I was particularly terrible until December. I took my anger out on many different people and things. It’s embarrassing, but I almost broke my mobile phone.”
Sports Hochi Shinbun (2011-10-26, about hiring Takahashi’s new agent Ihara from USM megalodon. jp /2011-1020-0546-42/ ): [quote]Coach Nagamitsu, 本当に。しーちゃんと比べて、あの子は大変だと思うんですよ。しーちゃんはずっとモチベーションを保てる選手だったのに対して、大輔は浮き沈みが激しい。もう、ジェットコースターみたいに上がったり下がったりじゃないですか。井原さんもよくあれに付き合ってくれるなあ、と（笑）。色々な意味で彼がついてくださることは、大輔に大きな影響があります。“Honestly. I think he is a lot of trouble compared to Shizuka. While Shizuka was an athlete who was always motivated, Daisuke has extreme ups and downs. It’s like riding a roller coaster, going up and down like that. I can’t believe Ihara is also willing to put up with him. (laughs) But he’s been a big influence on Daisuke in many ways by sticking with him.”
On TV Asahi, “Hodo Station (2014-10-14)”: [quote]Takahashi’s trainer Watanabe, 本人も言ってるんですけど、[bold]携帯投げつけられたり（笑）そんなんは結構あったんですけど、[/bold]苦しんでるなと思ってサポートしていました。“He said it himself, but he would chuck his mobile phone at me (laughs) and there was a lot of that, but I supported him because I felt he was really hurting.”
I don’t think your assessment of his psychological state is wrong. It’s only natural to blow up now and then in such an environment, especially when you’re preparing for a life-changing event like the Olympics. But even after acknowledging and apologizing for his actions, he still repeated those behaviors, and the man himself seemed to think he’s had chronic anger issues. But he was never vilified by the press for what he did (Can you imagine any other Japanese or foreign skater being treated the same way today?) and his team never left him while he would have been abandoned by a different coach. From the same interview I quoted, his coach said that she spoiled him and would have never gone so easy on him had he been a girl.
