Problem

Source: 2021 SRMC P1

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Given a sequence $s$ consisting of digits $0$ and $1$. For any positive integer $k$, define $v_k$ the maximum number of ways in any sequence of length $k$ that several consecutive digits can be identified, forming the sequence $s$. (For example, if $s=0110$, then $v_7=v_8=2$, because in sequences $0110110$ and $01101100$ one can find consecutive digits $0110$ in two places, and three pairs of $0110$ cannot meet in a sequence of length $7$ or $8$.) It is known that $v_n<v_{n+1}<v_{n+2}$ for some positive integer $n$. Prove that in the sequence $s$, all the numbers are the same. A. Golovanov