American Ninja Warrior (2009–…): Season 14, Episode 4 - Qualifiers 4 - full transcript
- Hey!
[clicks tongue twice]
- Huh?
Bello!
- Tonight on
"American Ninja Warrior..."
- This obstacle
can be very tricky.
All: Minions! Minions!
- We're doing
something despicable.
[Diana Ross & Tame Impala's
"Turn Up The Sunshine"]
- ♪ All around the world ♪
- Those Despica-Balls
have been diabolical.
- ♪ Turn up the sunshine ♪
♪ We got to
turn up the sunshine ♪
- That ball was despicable.
- [pops lips]
- We're teaming up
with the Minions.
- Kevin, you're live.
- Oh.
Okay, uh...
- ♪ All around the world ♪
all: Minions, Minions!
Minions! Minions!
- ♪ Turn up the sunshine ♪
- Oh, banana!
- Ba-na-na.
In honor
of their upcoming movie,
we let the little guys
run wild on our set...
- [screams]
- [cackles]
- And they
threw themselves into it.
- [grunts] Whoo-hoo!
- ♪ A long night,
waiting for the light ♪
♪ Waiting for the light ♪
- It's gonna be another night
to remember at the Alamodome
as we head into week four
of qualifying
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everyone,
I'm Matt Iseman.
- And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, not only will we see
lots of ninjas tonight,
we're going to see
lots of Minions.
- That's right, big man.
The new film
"Minions: The Rise of Gru"
arrives in theaters July 1st,
but you're going
to get a sneak peek of them
on our course tonight.
- We're going to see those
little guys everywhere.
In fact, they're even taking
over one of our obstacles.
- It's going to be ba-na-nas.
[Akbar laughs]
For more on that,
let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- Yeah, guys.
Those little Minions
have come up with a big,
new balance obstacle
which they call
the Despica-Balls.
As one of the options
at Split Decision,
our ninjas can choose
to run across the heads
of Otto, Bob, Stuart, and Kevin.
To get there, the ninjas will
have to survive
the new obstacle,
Shattered Panes,
with boards that rotate,
drop, and twist.
Also debuting tonight
in the number five spot
is Final Frontier,
a balancing act between planets.
[cheers and applause]
Guys, it's going
to be a fun night.
- Thanks, Zuri.
Well, the Minions
may be movie stars,
but we've got plenty
of ninja stars too.
- Yeah, that's right.
Check out this all-star lineup.
We've got the runner-up
from the past two seasons,
Austin Gray.
He's annihilating this course!
Along with
his Colorado roommate,
the 5'2" Ninja Hero,
Gnarly Nate Hansen.
And the crowd erupting!
Plus, Barclay Stockett is back,
and the six-time
veteran from Houston
has some big news to share.
And leading the teenagers
is the Fly Boy,
the 16-year-old from Texas,
Isaiah Thomas.
Fastest time of the night!
[cheers and applause]
- Well, put your seats
in the upright position
and get ready for takeoff,
because up first
is a 15-year-old
from Greenwood, Indiana,
Jess Wombles.
She's got the aviator glasses
and her own toy plane
because this ninja
is ready to soar.
[dramatic music]
- I'm kind of an
adrenaline junkie.
I love to fly through
obstacles in the air...
And I love to fly planes.
[airplane engine droning]
♪ ♪
- Most kids are learning
to drive cars at 16,
but Jess is learning
to fly planes and drive cars.
- Ready to get started?
- Yep.
All right.
- Pre-flight checklist.
[upbeat music]
- My dad is an
international airline pilot,
but when me and my dad fly,
we fly a Cessna 152.
- Are you all set?
- Ready for takeoff.
- All right.
- It's a small, little airplane.
We have four seats in there,
and that's where I first learned
how to cruise in the sky
by myself.
♪ ♪
Flying gives me
a sense of freedom.
Whenever you're
up in the clouds,
you leave all of your problems
down on the runway.
- Being able to share a passion
for flying with Jessica
is really special to me.
It's hard as your teenager
is growing up.
They don't want to spend
as much time with their parent.
But this bond
between the two of us
really gives us some great
father-daughter time.
- Whenever I fly,
I have control
over the whole airplane.
So whenever I get up
on an obstacle,
I have to remind myself
that I'm fully in control.
And I've been Ninja training
for 3 1/2 years now.
- Come on.
Up, up, up, up, up, up, up.
Yeah.
There you go!
- I'm so excited
to finally show everyone
what I've worked so hard for.
[dramatic music]
- Yeah, Jess!
Nice.
- As a pilot,
I fly through the sky.
But tonight, I'm gonna
fly through this course.
♪ ♪
- This is your host teller
telling you
to fasten your seatbelts.
Jess is ready,
her parents are ready,
and so are we.
Sky Ninja,
you are cleared for takeoff.
[countdown clock beeping]
She is now free
to move about the course.
- Let me tell you,
I love her energy.
[cheers and applause]
- She's going
to give us our first look
at this new obstacle,
Shattered Panes.
This first one will rotate
as you run up it.
- Uh-oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Okay.
There you go.
- A little turbulence.
- Now she's going
to make this big move.
This second one will drop.
- She's got her sister
and friend
watching from Nashville.
Nice.
- A little bit
of a rough landing,
but she's still going.
- Let's go! Let's go!
- Watch the tilt here
on this third pane.
- All right, smooth landing.
Nice.
- Ooh.
- That was smooth enough,
that was smooth enough.
- She regripped.
And Jess Wombles,
the Sky Ninja's,
on to Split Decision.
- She can go left to Log Runner
or right
to our Minions obstacle,
the Despica-Balls.
All: Minions! Minions!
Minions! Minions!
- And the crowd is chanting,
"Minions!"
She's going to do it!
She's going to try
the Despica-Balls.
- Oh, that's what
I'm talking about.
She knows she wants
to run on the heads
of Otto, Bob, Stuart, and Kevin.
- Now, those heads
will spin and rotate.
Can the pilot navigate
her way through?
- Right, now...
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
The Minions get
their first victim.
Jess Wombles is grounded.
- Well, take a look at this.
She was fine running
across Otto and Bob,
but on Stuart, her left foot
was too far inside,
and she crash-landed on Kevin.
- Whoo!
That was so fun!
It was literally
the best moment of my life.
- Well,
Jess Wombles is a fly girl,
and up next is the Fly Boy,
Isaiah Thomas.
The now 16-year-old
from Garland, Texas,
who actually blew us away
last season.
In his very first run
in Tacoma qualifying,
he not only hit a buzzer...
- He's a bad boy!
Look at him go.
- He had the fastest time
of the night.
- I'm built different!
- Oh!
He said he's built different.
I like the swag
from the young gun.
- After the show aired,
it's felt like people,
mainly on social media,
found me as cocky
or overly confident,
but I was just a normal,
teenage boy living his dream.
I'm super excited to come back.
Ready to show everyone
what I have to share.
- Well, Matt, I love this kid.
He's got a little swag, but
he backs it up on the course.
- His mom's on the sideline,
and he's got a big group
of friends watching
back in Texas where he trains.
[all cheering]
[countdown clock beeping]
Got the nickname Fly Boy
because he just
sails through obstacles.
Just like that.
[cheers and applause]
Goes right in
to Shattered Panes.
- You asking yourself, does he
look a little different?
Yup, because he grew.
He grew a lot.
He's now 6'1".
And back on "Ninja Junior,"
he was only 5'7".
- Made it to stage two
in Vegas last year.
And he's quickly
through two obstacles.
Now he's got a choice
at Split Decision.
Just saw Jess Wombles fall
on the Despica-Balls,
and he's going with Log Runner.
High school basketball player,
got long legs.
- Yeah, nice.
[cheers and applause]
- Now another
new obstacle, Kickboards.
He needs to use his feet
to knock the boards up,
then swing up
to those big, red disks.
- There you go.
Kick it. Nice!
- Just like that.
Now got to do the same thing
on the second board.
- Man, Fly Boy is flying
through this course.
- He's going to use his feet
to line up the disk
before he kicks it out.
- There you go.
Kick it.
- Powerful kick
right into place.
- Another good transfer.
He is just looking so solid.
Nice.
[cheers and applause]
And he has flown through
these first four obstacles.
- What's up, man?
- Come on, baby!
- Now the last of the night's
new obstacles, Final Frontier.
Has to use that bar to balance
his way across these planets.
- Nice. Oh, watch out.
Watch out, watch out now.
- This is a different kind
of obstacle.
You really have
to shift your weight,
and that's going to
create problems.
- You can see his...
He's even on the bars, Matt.
That can be a little bit tricky.
He's got to make sure
he transfers it over,
lean heavy to the right.
- Oh!
- Lean heavy to the right, Matt!
- Fly Boy splashes down.
[audience groans]
[all groaning]
- I'm built different!
- Oh, he's built different.
He's still having fun, Matt.
- We'll have to wait and see,
but with his fast time,
he's still got a good chance
of moving on.
- Watch as he tries
to make the shift
over to that small planet.
He just missed.
This obstacle is a tough one.
- Tonight...
the Minions are here.
- [speaking Minionese]
- Whoo-hoo-hoo!
- Plus a whole lot more.
- Flybird
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- [laughs]
- Yeah!
- We've got some of the most
inspiring athletes
of the season.
- Oh, look at that!
Come on!
- Along with old friends,
and even a visitor
from the North Pole.
- Ho, ho, ho, ho!
- Okay, Santa.
- It's going to be
out of this world...
- One large step for man.
- When we light the candles
and pop a cork.
- Toast.
[glass dings]
- On "American Ninja Warrior."
- It's Minions Night here
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[Strauss'
"Also sprach Zarathustra"]
But some other creatures
have invaded the course.
That's because minutes ago,
the Space Ninja, Adam Naids,
landed at the start line.
- One large step for man.
- Naids works for NASA
and is developing a toilet
that works in space,
so he was ready to potty.
The four-time veteran
had lift-off at the start.
- Okay, I see you!
- And he made it to the end
of Shattered Panes
before splashdown.
- Oh no!
[air horn blares]
Looks like the potty is over.
- New Mexico's Megan Jarmosevich
is a flight nurse.
She flies in a helicopter,
bringing critically-ill
patients to hospitals
every day for work.
Yet at the top
of Shattered Panes,
the 39-year-old seemed
to have a fear of heights.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
And she just...
[air horn blares]
Splashed down.
[applause]
- That was a big jump.
- Then Tyler Yamauchi awakened
the dragon with a shishimai.
He had two of his kids
inside a traditional
shishimai costume
to bring him good luck.
- Okay, Yamauchi.
- And it seemed to work
as the 5'1" veteran
survived Shattered Panes.
- Did you see the way
he threw his body?
- At Split Decision...
all: Minions, Minions, Minions!
- His wife wanted Despica-Balls,
and Mama knew best.
- Nice!
- He reached Final Frontier,
but that's where
Yamauchi's good fortune ended.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- But it may be enough to get
him into the semifinals.
- Whoo!
That was fun though.
- Well, it may be summer,
but our next competitor
is already thinking
about Christmas.
It's 21-year-old Tristan Wyman.
And guess where he's from.
- I don't know, where?
- The North Pole.
This is a real place.
[upbeat festive music]
Now, for most of the year,
this town of 2,700 people
is ice cold.
Temperatures sometimes dip
to -60 degrees.
But that doesn't stop
this Ninja fanatic
from training
on his homemade obstacles
with some unusual spectators.
[reindeer grunts]
But the coolest thing
about this town
is that it's basically
Christmas all year round.
[sleigh bells jingling]
- There's a Santa Claus house,
reindeer all over the place,
and we got candy cane
street lights.
♪ ♪
Santa delivers every Christmas,
so it's my turn to deliver
on the course tonight.
- Well, Tristan's got
a VIP guest to watch his run.
That's right.
Santa is here.
The most famous
North Pole resident
has come down to watch Tristan.
- We got Santa in the house!
- Let's go!
Yeah!
- Some other friends and
family are watching
from back in Alaska.
Tristan's family
on the sidelines,
everyone wearing
Christmas colors.
I think it's time
to find out if Tristan
has been naughty or nice.
[countdown clock beeping]
Santa and Tristan traveled
over 3,000 miles
to be here tonight.
- Matt, for a kid,
it's got to be pretty cool
to grow up in the North Pole
where it's Christmas
all year round.
- Tristan's trying to get
traction on Shattered Panes.
Now he's okay.
Got to jump to the second pane.
- Oh, I think he hit his head
on that one.
- Now this third pane
has a 60-degree tilt.
- If you don't land
in the right place,
it could be lights out.
- Well, Tristan looks like
he's okay
with these reindeer games.
[cheers and applause]
On to Split Decision.
- Whoa, Matt,
before we get there,
he almost split his head
right here.
- Ooh!
- Took a shot to the dome.
- And looks like he's going
for Log Runner.
Santa's good
at going down chimneys...
and he's going to run
right through the logs.
[cheers and applause]
Let's see what's
in his stockings,
if he has the power
to move these kickboards.
5'11", 160.
- Yeah, he's got to kick this
first door like he's naughty.
- But for Tristan,
it's such a dream to be here.
A superfan of the show,
been training for this moment
for nine years.
Says he has an encyclopedic
knowledge of the show.
And now this second disk spins.
Got to turn it 90 degrees
so it's easier to grab.
You see him reaching out
with his foot
to make the adjustment there.
- Strong! Yeah.
- And it looks like
Rudolph's nose there.
He's got to grab on
to it on this kickboard.
- Matt, he's a student
at the University of Alaska,
and he's done his homework.
He knows how to do it.
[cheers and applause]
- Trying to get that dismount,
and what a rookie effort
this is.
Well, he is spreading
Christmas cheer
for all the crowd to hear.
Santa is pleased.
And Tristan Wyman's
been moving quickly.
He's on the fifth obstacle
already, Final Frontier.
Oh.
- Oh, boy. To Jupiter.
- You see how
he's turning around?
- How is he hanging on?
- He's twisting up
like a pretzel.
Both: Oh!
- Ho, ho, ho, ho!
What happened?
- Ho, ho, ho!
- Let's go!
- Tristan Wyman still elated.
Will he move on?
He's going to have to wait
and see what's under the tree.
- Man, he made
the North Pole proud.
This 21-year-old knows how
to spread the Christmas cheer,
and he made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle.
A great run for the rookie.
- We'll have to wait and see
if Tristan and Santa
are moving on to the semifinals.
[bell jingling]
- Coming up,
she can light up the course.
- And she's done it!
- And after some rough years,
the sparkle is back
for Barclay Stockett.
She's up next on
"American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to Minions Night
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Minutes ago,
Houston's impressive mom,
Sabrina Tamraz,
showed why they call her
Little Rowdy.
- Look at them abs.
- With her four kids
watching at home,
the 5'1" 39-year-old
looked confident
on the Shrinking Steps.
Look at that!
But the rookie wasn't quite
ready for the Shattered Panes.
- Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
[upbeat country music]
- Louisiana's Andrew Naquin
catches bullfrogs down
in the bayou,
and the Cajun Zeus brought us
a frog named Francis.
- [ribbits]
- He's saying, ribbit,
ribbit, ribbit.
- [ribbits]
- On the course,
Naquin lost his hat early.
- He lost his crown,
and I'm about to lose Francis!
- Naquin has fallen
on a balance obstacle
three out of the four years
he's competed...
- Hop, hop, hop.
Nice.
- But he survived tonight.
One obstacle later,
Naquin couldn't make the leap
on Kickboards.
No!
[air horn blares]
- Zoom in on this!
Francis is smiling!
- [ribbits]
- In his trademark
three-piece suit,
the Classy Ninja,
Donovan Metoyer,
looked sharp on the course.
- He's dressed for success!
- Two years ago,
Metoyer went 360
on the Warped Wall,
and tonight, he was
promising something special
for the 18-foot Mega Wall
- And he always impresses us!
- But to get there, he'd have
to get past Final Frontier.
- That's my ninja right there.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
- So he didn't get a Mega Wall,
but it was still worthy
of a mic drop.
- What were the plans
if you made it
up the Mega Wall today?
- Oh, sorry.
- [laughs]
- All eyes are on the start line
as one of our
all-time favorites steps up.
It's the Sparkly Ninja,
Barclay Stockett,
This little firecracker
from Houston, Texas,
has had a couple of rough years,
but this season,
Barclay is healthy and happy.
[soft dramatic music]
- I met Tee Jackson in 2017
at a Ninja competition.
- We became friends
and bonded over
our love of Ninja
and caring for people.
Nice job!
- Tee and I were friends
for about two full years.
Best friends.
♪ ♪
Whoo!
That's awesome.
- And then my mom got sick,
and Tee moved from Kentucky
all the way to Texas
to help take care of her
during hospice.
♪ ♪
That was the worst time
of my life.
I think the only reason
I survived my mom passing
is because I had Tee.
- ♪ Say hello like it's
the first time that you met ♪
- And, um,
that's when I realized
we weren't just best friends.
We're actually completely
and totally in love
with each other.
- ♪ I'm finally seeing who
I am ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I feel the power coming back ♪
- [claps] Let's go!
- Oh, shoot!
So we bought a house,
we got a puppy.
- Yes.
- We have a bazillion plants.
- Plants, plants, plants,
plants, plants.
- And we got engaged.
- Ooh!
[both laugh]
[upbeat music]
- When we first started dating,
I was afraid of, like,
what will my family say,
what will society say?
But the best thing
I've ever done in my life
is allow myself to love you.
- Same here.
♪ ♪
- We want you to know that
if you don't have someone
in your life
that will embrace you...
both: We will.
- ♪ I feel the power
coming back ♪
- It's so good to see Barclay
with that sparkle again.
And Tee will be
cheering her on as always.
[countdown clock beeping]
Always love seeing this woman
on the course.
- She's only 5 feet tall,
the shortest competitor tonight,
but she can do big things.
- In the past, she's made it
to the National Finals.
She's been part of Team USA
in our USA vs. the World
competition,
went up against the men
in our skills competition,
trying to regain that form.
- But at her size, 5 feet,
this is a long jump.
- You can do it! Let's go!
- She's got it.
She doesn't care.
The intensity on
Barclay Stockett, I love it.
- She's got that sparkle
in her eyes, Matt.
She's back.
- And that was the thing
we love about Barclay.
Sparkly on the sidelines,
but intense on the course.
And a little roll.
Lots of friends supporting her
on the side lines.
She's always been
a fan favorite.
So great to see
that smile again.
[cheers and applause]
- Matt, think back to her
first run on "Ninja Warrior."
She fell on Log Runner,
so she's staying away
and going to try her luck
on Despica-Balls.
- You could see Otto
giving her the stink eye.
- Come on, Barclay.
Come on.
[Matt chuckles]
- This ain't easy.
- Ooh.
- Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.
Ooh, I told you!
[cheers and applause]
It's in her eyes.
Look in her eyes.
She is intense and ready.
- Now on to the Kickboards.
If she gets through this,
she'll have a very good shot
at moving on.
We know she's got power.
Going to need to be explosive
to get these 50-pound boards up.
- Boom!
- Come on, babe!
Lock it in!
[cheers and applause]
- Now she's gonna need
a big lache up
'cause she didn't get that
board close and horizontal...
- Nice.
- But she can fly.
Barclay, we've seen her
on the Super Salmon ladder.
We know
she's got grip and power.
Doesn't have long legs,
but still able
to rotate that disk.
- So much power,
but look at that reach.
Really has to stretch out, Matt.
Doesn't have a lot of
real estate there on the legs.
- Come on, babe!
[Barclay grunts]
- Nice. Oh, wow!
- I don't know that she can
get out there at 5 feet.
- Oh no, she can. She can.
- Find a way down, Barclay!
- But she's got to stretch it
a little bit.
That means she's going to have
to hang on a little longer,
but you know what?
If anybody has the
upper-body strength, it's her.
- Well, here she goes.
Locked in.
And she's smiling,
she is pumped.
[cheers and applause]
- Matt, there's only one thing
that sparkles in space,
and that is a star.
Barclay Stockett's going
to be a star in this obstacle.
- Hey, Barclay, you're back.
- I'm back, baby!
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, she is back,
and the best way to show it
would be to get her first
buzzer ever in qualifying.
- She's going to have
to get through Final Frontier,
and we've already seen some
top ninjas fall here.
- She's going to go one ring.
Nice.
- She's got the power.
- Yep.
- She got to get
into Jupiter's orbit there,
the bigger planet.
She's on Jupiter.
- Got the handles
in her hands there.
- All right, okay.
There's a shiny star
right there.
- And looking very comfortable.
Really using
that control stick well.
- Now change the weight over.
Nice, nice.
- Got it.
Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
Slips off.
The Sparkly Ninja doused,
Tee coming to hug her.
- I love you!
- And you can see the joy
back on her face once again.
[applause]
- This looked like
the Barclay of old,
powering through obstacles
and flashing that smile
on the course.
She made it to the fifth
obstacle before falling,
and that's her best run
in years.
- ♪ I feel the power
coming back ♪
- Barclay!
- Whoo!
- I am so proud of you.
- [sobs]
- You... oh, my God.
You have had
the roughest few years.
That was so...
That was so amazing.
How are you feeling?
- I'm, like,
completely overwhelmed
because I just came here
with no expectations.
I just wanted
to have a good time.
I just wanted to, like,
take Ninja back.
- Yeah.
- When I lost my mom, I just...
I felt like
I lost Ninja too, and...
- Girl, I'll tell you
one thing right now,
you did not lose Ninja.
You showed us
just how much you have it.
What do you say
to the folks at home
who are watching and seeing
this triumph over tragedy?
- It's just incredible to see
that you can find happiness
after a tragedy,
and I just never thought
I would have that.
- Well, I am so happy for you.
We are clearly so happy for you.
We love you, Barclay.
You are such an inspiration,
girl.
All right.
Oh, one more small thing.
We'll see you in Los Angeles.
You're heading to semifinals.
[cheers and applause]
- Coming up,
she's a world-class climber
bringing her skills to Ninja...
- All right.
- But there's something
special about Katie Bone.
- Type 1 didn't end my life.
It just changed it.
- Her inspiring story
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- Welcome back to the Alamodome,
where the University of Texas
San Antonio
cheer squad is
showing our ninjas some love.
Minutes ago,
Texas mom Christie Brophy
had a big group cheering her on,
including her husband
and four sons.
This 41-year-old
air force veteran
looked smooth on takeoff...
- That's what I'm talking about!
- But it was a rough landing
on Shattered Panes.
- Ooh!
Check this out again.
Boom!
[air horn blares]
- Then it was active duty
army soldier Nick DeMore.
The 34-year-old father had
to fight for every inch
with close calls
on the second...
Whoa!
And the third obstacle...
- Ooh!
Hell of a save right there!
- Before it finally
slipped away on the fourth.
- No!
I want to see that one again!
Oh, boy.
That looked like that hurts.
- College sophomore
David Tomassoni
turned 20 tonight,
and some of his Ninja friends
were ready to celebrate.
The rookie
from Boulder, Colorado,
made it a night to remember.
- He's got a lot
of potential here as a rookie.
- In his first time
on the course,
Tomassoni made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
- Oh, there's the black hole!
- He didn't get a buzzer,
but it's likely good enough
to move on, and that's
reason to celebrate.
- Go ahead,
blow out your candles, man.
[cheers and applause]
- Up next
is one of this season's
most promising young rookies.
This is New Mexico's Katie Bone.
She's only 16, but she is
a world-class rock climber,
and she's done it
while facing the challenges
of being a type 1 diabetic.
- All right, you ready, Katie?
Go for it.
You got it.
Come on, Katie.
That's perfect.
- I have been
a competitive rock climber
since I was eight years old.
- You're doing awesome, Katie.
[upbeat music]
- I love getting
to push my limits
and train hard and see what
I'm truly capable of.
[cheers and applause]
I found what I want to do
for the rest of my life.
- Come on, you got it, Katie.
All right.
- My dream would be
to make the
2024 Olympic climbing team.
But in 2017,
I was at a big competition,
and felt super sick.
A couple days later,
I was diagnosed
with type 1 diabetes.
Seeing the look
on my parents' face,
on my doctor's face was
so scary for an 11-year-old.
[soft dramatic music]
- Her first question
to the doctor was,
"When can I climb again?"
I was just thinking about
how to keep her alive,
and she wanted to know
when she would be able
to go to the gym.
- Diabetes has really
affected my life.
I have to wear an insulin pump
and a continuous
glucose monitor.
It's a never-ending battle,
but type 1 didn't end my life.
It just changed it.
- ♪ Oh, we all
get one moment to shine ♪
♪ Ah ♪
♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ Oh ♪
- Being on the show this year
is such a dream come true.
I hope I inspire a little kid
who is afraid to wear
their pump on their arm,
and know that it is okay
to have it visible,
and it doesn't make you weird.
It makes everything that
you do that much more amazing,
and that much more special.
My motto is, I don't need easy,
I just need possible.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ This moment is mine ♪
[cheers and applause]
- And you can see the
insulin pump on one arm,
glucose monitor on the other.
Doesn't slow her down.
She's got her family
on the sidelines
along with some top ninjas,
including her coach,
Austin Gray.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Only 5'2" and 110 pounds,
but she is powerful.
- Good balance.
[cheers and applause]
She always has to be aware
of her glucose levels.
Here's a better look at the pump
and monitor on her triceps.
If her glucose drops too low,
it could affect her balance,
her eyesight.
She could even
lose consciousness.
The insulin helps keep it
at manageable levels.
- This is where she can use
her climbing skills
right here on Shattered Panes.
- Come on. Get it!
- Watch the drop.
You don't have drops like this
in rock climbing.
- But she got
them vice grips though.
- You got it.
- Watch this.
Look at her.
Look at Katie Bone.
That's an easy move.
That's an easy move for her.
- She seems solid.
Well, it's amazing.
She's been an elite
rock climber for a long time,
but when she was nine years old,
she was asked what
her dream was.
She didn't mention the Olympics.
She mentioned
"American Ninja Warrior,"
and here she is
living out that dream.
A little tight there.
- 16 years old. Nice.
- Whoa.
- She was not letting go, Matt.
When she locks on...
I shook her hand earlier, Matt.
She almost crushed my hand.
[cheers and applause]
- Now it's Split Decision.
- She's looking over
at the Minions.
She's... is she going
to go with Despica-Balls?
No, she's going Log Runner.
- Keep running, keep running.
- Stay forward!
- Her motto is,
"I don't need easy.
I just possible."
- Yeah!
- And she's showing
what's possible.
[cheers and applause]
Now on to the Kickboards.
And she's going to muster up
some power for this obstacle.
As we said, only 110 pounds,
one of our lightest competitors,
and these kickboards
each weigh 50 pounds.
- Boom! Just like that!
Big kick right out of the gate!
- Well, she's always up
for a challenge.
She and her family
travel around the country
to climbing competitions
almost every weekend.
- Come on, you got it!
- Got it!
- Nice. Look at that.
Look at how she's just
transferring her body.
It's easy to her.
- Good transfer.
- Come on, Katie.
- Keep breathing,
keep breathing.
- Like you said,
hopes to be in Paris
for the Olympics climbing.
It's a new sport.
We saw it last year, Akbar.
We were there in Tokyo.
Let's see the power here.
- All right, big kick.
- You're good.
Come on, you got it!
- She could probably
hang there for days, Matt.
Oh, yeah.
Nice, big kick.
- Good, good.
- The handle is a little uneven.
- Yeah, all right.
This yoke will start to spin.
It's a spinning yoke,
but she's got it.
- What control.
That's just impressive.
This 16-year-old
looking like a veteran.
- She ain't messing around.
[cheers and applause]
- A 16-year-old rookie
with diabetes,
and she's staring down
the fifth obstacle.
That's impressive.
All: Katie, Katie, Katie!
- But no one has gotten
past Final Frontier tonight.
So we haven't had a finisher,
and only three women have
hit a buzzer all season long.
- Nice! There you go!
- Yeah, come on!
- Just keep hopping.
Keep hopping!
- Hopping, hopping!
- It does come down
to Ninja technique.
This one's a little tricky.
You got to be able to see it
and map your way through here.
All right.
All right, now go
from one ring to the next.
- Yeah, she may need to put
her hands on both handles
for this transfer.
There it is.
- Nice!
- Good move!
- You solve it with authority!
- Oh, that was precarious.
Come on, Katie!
- Oh, she's trying
to fight it and get it.
She's trying to wiggle it.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.
- Watch it.
- Okay!
- Are you kidding me?
- Okay!
- One more move
to bring it home!
- You got it! Come on!
- Katie, come on!
- Come on!
- Look at Bone, look at Bone.
- Well, she might win
a gold medal in 2024,
but right now, she's winning
over the hearts of America.
- [indistinct]
puts her mind to it at 16!
- Are you kidding me?
- How sweet is this at 16?
[cheers and applause]
Are you kidding me?
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall!
- And now 14 and 1/2 feet away
from her first buzzer.
Hey, Katie!
You got this!
- Come on, Katie.
Oh, fingertips.
- She's getting a feel,
she's getting a feel.
- She just needs fingertips
up there and she'll be good.
- You got it, Katie.
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall!
- She gets two more attempts,
but how great would it be
for this rookie to get a buzzer?
- All right.
Look up, see it.
Look up, get it, grab it!
Yes!
- Yes! Yes!
Katie Bone!
Oh, my goodness!
[cheers and applause]
What a moment!
[upbeat music]
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ Whoa ♪
- Yes.
Let it out, let it out.
- Oh, my God.
- Celebrate and let it out.
- I'm getting emotional.
- Come here. Come here.
Don't you have me
up here crying.
Why the tears?
- I've been through so much,
and it's such a proud moment.
- Yeah.
- Now you're out here
as a rookie with diabetes.
You got your buzzer, Katie!
You got your buzzer!
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- She was the first
to conquer Final Frontier
and had the crowd
chanting her name.
At 16, Katie Bone,
a type 1 diabetic,
gets the first buzzer
of the night.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- Your dreams came true,
and I love what you say.
You don't need easy.
You just need possible.
What does it feel like
right now?
- It's such an
unexplainable feeling
to hit my first buzzer.
- I have a feeling we're going
to see you in Paris in 2024,
but we know for sure
we're going to see you in LA!
[cheers and applause]
Katie Bone, go celebrate
with your family, sweetie.
- Thank you so much.
- You are awesome.
- Matt, I am holding back
my tears right now.
- I am too.
- I got chills.
I got tears welling up
in my eyes.
That was such a powerful run.
- And such a powerful message
she has.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- Well, it looks like a ninja
has camped out
on the start line.
What's that about?
And later, he became
a true ninja hero.
- Whoo!
- 5'2" Nate Hansen tries
to amaze us once again
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- Welcome back!
Minutes ago,
Wyoming's Parker Hewes
was one happy camper when
he woke up at the start line.
- Yeah, time to break camp.
You got to run the course.
- The 28-year-old
is an avid outdoorsman,
and he climbed the peaks
of Shattered Panes...
- Okay!
- And hiked across
the Despica-Balls.
- Nice!
- The chiropractor
from Jackson Hole
made all the right adjustments
until he reached Final Frontier.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- The Hawaiian shirt came off,
but the Wyoming doctor
may have gone far enough
to move on.
[cheers and applause]
New Orleans' Kristen Brickner
is a safety officer
at an oil refinery,
so we were extra careful
for her run.
- Wearing this suit
is what's hazardous.
- The Brick, as she's known,
had her family on the sidelines
and co-workers watching
from back at the refinery.
But Brickner ran into trouble
right away.
- Matt, look at her.
She's spinning.
She's breaking bad.
- And the Shrinking Steps were
hazardous to her run.
[Kristen screams]
[air horn blares]
Then Tennessee's Mike Eckert
pulled up to the start line.
- Save some of that for
the course, I'm telling you.
- This staff sergeant
in the Marine Corps reserves
broke the
world record four years ago
for most pull ups
in 60 seconds with 58.
Tonight, the 31-year-old marine
marched though
the first two obstacles
and then decided
to try the Despica-Balls.
- Oh, oh, oh!
He's spinning, Matt!
Kevin got him!
- But he did inspire Akbar
to see how many pull ups
he could do.
One,
two,
three.
- I couldn't hold on anymore.
- They couldn't hold him up.
They said he's too fat.
That's what they just said.
[whistle blows]
All right,
everyone out of the water
because we've had
a shark sighting.
Heading to the start line
is Mark the Shark.
Inside that costume is
35-year-old Mark Antioquia.
- Mark the Shark can dance!
- And that T-Rex can dance too.
That's actually his fiancée
and fellow competitor,
Heather Petty.
They are a fun couple
brought together by Ninja.
[upbeat music]
- We like to scuba dive,
travel the world...
- Whoa.
- And dress up together
in our inflatable costumes.
♪ ♪
- Hi, guys.
- Hi, guys.
High fin, high fin.
- We're kind of an
easy-to-spot couple.
- Hello, miss diver.
[Heather laughs]
When we're in our shark
and T-Rex costumes,
we feel unstoppable.
[laughter]
- People laugh, people smile.
- Do you want a flower?
- I do want a flower.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
- Have a great Friday.
- You too.
- So if you can
do something small
that just makes their day
a little bit better, why not?
- Heather got me
into scuba diving.
And recently,
we went 75 feet underwater
to explore a sunken shipwreck,
and I asked her to be my wife.
- I have to say it probably
took my breath away
for a second, but thankfully,
I had an oxygen tank on.
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
To share so many hobbies
and to be able to compete
together is so magical.
- Mark the Shark is
coming out of the deep
and is ready
to attack that course.
[imitates roar]
[Heather laughs]
- Mark's taken off the suit,
but his friends back
in Massachusetts
are going to keep
the shark attack going.
The crowd here in San Antonio
is also behind him.
All: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- And you can hear it,
that Mark the Shark chant.
- I know sharks
are great swimmers,
but Mark the Shark is not trying
to go swimming on this course.
And you can see Heather's
gonna keep the T-Rex suit on.
That's dedication.
- Well, theirs is
another Ninja love story.
Mark was a science teacher
in New Jersey
when he met Heather
at a Ninja competition.
- Let's go, let's go.
- They dated long distance
for a while,
then he gave up teaching
and moved to be with her
in Massachusetts.
Well, just like a shark,
the secret of Ninja
is keep moving.
- Let's go!
- Oh.
- The Shark had
some good traction there.
- You got it, buddy.
It's right there.
It's right there,
it's right there.
[cheers and applause]
- Babe, you look so good!
- He tells Heather
she looks good.
I think that's what
every T-Rex wants to hear.
- Now he's got the mother
of all Ninja decisions:
Split Decision.
All: Minions! Minions!
- The crowd's chanting Minions.
They want him
to try Despica-Balls.
- The Shark looks hungry.
If I'm a shark,
I'm going with Despica-Balls.
Go ahead, go Despica-Balls.
- A shark versus the Minions.
- Nice, nice.
- The Shark prevails!
- Mark the Shark ate that up.
- And this crowd's
really rooting for this guy.
He's kind of an underdog.
Didn't have much
of a sports background,
discovered Ninja,
feels like this
is his first opportunity
to show his athleticism.
- Only 5'6", not a big guy.
- But he's coming up,
powering his way
through the fourth obstacle.
Watch the transfer here.
- All right, Matt.
Here he goes.
- The Shark is really moving
like a predator
hunting his prey.
That prey is the buzzer.
- You got it. Go.
- He competed once before
four years ago,
fell on the fourth obstacle.
Looking much stronger now.
He'll make a big transfer here.
Oh!
- Oh, buddy!
Oh!
Hold on, hold on!
- Got to get the dismount!
Got through it.
- The Shark got some bite,
and the crowd loves it.
- And Mark Antioquia's
diving right into
the fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
We've never had a Shark
in space until tonight.
- He's put in a lot
of work, Matt.
He trains seven days a week.
- Going for a world record
in muscle-ups,
so we know he's got
that upper-body strength.
- Yeah, Matt, he's going from
planet to planet right now.
He's planet hopping.
Hop, hop, hop.
Nice.
- Well, Ninja literally
changed Mark Antioquia's life.
Led him to his future wife,
changed his career.
Getting a buzzer would be
a great addition to his story.
All: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- Nice!
- One more move here.
- This crowd is about to erupt!
- And look at this!
A Shark made the journey!
[cheers and applause]
all: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- It's good to see you guys!
- You definitely are
a ninja shark.
- It's been a long time!
- Here we go.
14 and 1/2 feet away
from his first buzzer.
- Well, Ninja brought him
his fiancée.
Can it bring him to LA?
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall! Beat that wall!
- Yes, it does!
[buzzer blares]
- Yeah, baby!
- The Shark gets his buzzer!
- Whoo!
- Unbelievable!
- Mark, you stepped away
from Ninja for a little bit.
What did you do
during your off time?
- I was in the deep,
I was finding
the love of my life
all right here with Ninja.
I'm just out here
living my best life.
- Hey, buddy,
that's the best performance
by a shark
since Katy Perry's
halftime show.
[laughter]
Buddy, you're going to LA!
- Let's go! Yeah!
- He found love,
and he found a ticket to LA.
- Whoo!
- Coming up,
this firefighter lost his leg
but never lost his fire.
The amazing Gary Weiland
is going to run the course
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- ♪ All around the world ♪
- Welcome back to a special
"American Ninja Warrior"
as we team up with the Minions
and their new movie,
"The Rise of Gru,"
which hits theaters on Friday.
We are about halfway through
tonight's qualifying,
and what a night
it's been so far.
Aspiring actor Chris Adkins
was ready for his closeup.
And besides his family,
he had special guests
watching him...
- Bello.
[speaking Minionese]
- Minions Otto and Stuart.
Action Adkins had
no problem early on...
- [speaking Minionese]
- Hey, hey!
- And with Otto
and Stuart watching,
he knew he had
to try the Despica-Balls.
- Go, go, go!
- The 5'2" Adkins skated through
and reached the fourth obstacle,
but couldn't handle
the Kickboards.
[air horn blares]
- [speaking Minionese]
[Stuart grunting]
Hey, buddies!
[laughs]
- Arkansas teenager Owen Dyer
came out with
his trademark flamingo hat
and some killer flamingo shirts.
- I like this, Matt.
Owen Dyer knows how to win the
hearts of the hosts here, huh?
- When the 17-year-old
reached Split Decision,
he paid tribute to the Minions.
- Uh-oh, what...
What's going on here?
Oh, bananas!
- But he wasn't about
to run across them,
so he went over Log Runner.
- Take the banana.
Don't mess with me.
- Dyer got a buzzer last year
in qualifying as a rookie,
and he was overjoyed
to get another one tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Can I get a picture
with you guys up there?
- Come on over here, man.
- Yeah!
- Boston's Heather Petty
ditched her T-Rex costume
for her shot at the course
with her fiancé, Mark the Shark,
cheering her on.
The 30-year-old
medical researcher
mastered the steps...
- Okay.
- But just like a T-Rex,
her arms were too short
to handle the Shattered Panes.
[air horn blares]
- Thank you guys so much.
- Well, we've had
some amazing individuals
tackle our course
over the years,
and another one is about
to join that list.
This is Texas firefighter
Gary Weiland,
a 42-year-old father of four,
and as you can see,
this man's come a long way
after losing his leg.
[siren wailing]
- I've been a firefighter
for ten years,
but following
a routine knee surgery,
I had some rare complications
that led to my left leg
being amputated in 2018.
[soft dramatic music]
My kids were in the hospital,
and I remember laying in bed.
And the way that they,
all four of them,
were looking at me,
I decided right then and there
that this was not gonna beat me.
- ♪ Whoa-oh-oh ♪
- I got out of bed
and started moving,
and I got physically stronger
and mentally stronger
and thought, "Okay, how can
I get back on a fire truck?"
So I had some very serious
conversations with my chief.
- ♪ I know we set this
all in motion ♪
♪ But we live
to fight another day ♪
- Gary outperformed
all our expectations.
Within six months,
Gary was already asking
can he return back
to full-duty status.
- My first shift back was
the greatest day of my life.
- ♪ It's never too late
for second chances ♪
- I rappel out of buildings,
I climb ladders,
I cut holes in roofs,
I go to car wrecks,
I use the Jaws of Life.
I do all these things
as a firefighter,
and I do it on one leg.
♪ ♪
- I'm so proud of my dad.
He's impacted
so many other people.
My dad has always been my hero,
but now he's a hero
to a lot of other people.
♪ ♪
- After I got back on the job,
I wanted to challenge myself
in other ways,
so I've been doing Ninja
for about two years now.
It challenges my leg,
which helps me on my job,
and I fell in love with it.
[grunts]
Hopefully, I give people hope
that no matter what
you're going through in life,
you can absolutely do anything
you put your mind to.
- ♪ Second chances ♪
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, you can see
he's saying, "Mind blown."
Well, my mind's blown that
he's out here doing this.
- And check out his buddies
back at the firehouse
cheering him on.
- Let's go, Gary.
You got this. Let's go.
- Along with his wife
and family members
watching from home.
Well, just to be here
is a triumph.
And if he can get through
this first obstacle
with that prosthetic leg,
that would truly be
something special.
- Oh, look at that!
Come on, tell me
that's not impressive!
- Whoa, that's amazing!
- Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
Whoo!
- Got a big group
on the sidelines,
including his son, who's
holding a sign that says,
"My dad's an amputee.
What superpower
does yours have?"
- Now, that's big-time
right there.
Tell me that didn't
give you chills.
- Let's go!
- What can he do here?
Can he climb
the Shattered Panes?
What a test this will be.
Come on!
This is a tough obstacle.
Those panels are slick.
Think about the agility
it takes for this.
And he's doing it
with a prosthetic leg!
- Big grip, big grip.
- What are your limitations,
folks?
- Come on, make it.
Nice.
Nice!
- What's your excuse?
Look at Gary Weiland.
- This firefighter is fighting
here on Shattered Panes.
And don't forget he's 42,
one of our older competitors
tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, saved!
- Come on, come on!
- This guy is cool under fire.
- Gary! Let's go!
- Gary Weiland!
Oh! And he saves it again!
- Matt, this is
courage under fire.
- Are you kidding me?
- And even he's saying,
"Are you kidding me?"
- Yes!
- Gary Weiland
is wiling out right now.
- But Split Decision's
going to be a real test.
Which one of these options
is best with a prosthetic leg?
- He's choosing Log Runner
over Despica-Balls.
- Pointing to his shirt.
The AO stands for
"adapt and overcome,"
and Gary Weiland's
definitely doing that.
- Wow.
- Look at him.
He's high stepping.
This would be incredible.
And the entire crowd
on their feet.
- Hold on, hold on!
Fight, fight, fight!
- Well, he's on the log.
- Matt, I swear on my mama,
if he makes it out of this one,
I'm going to jump out
of this booth.
- You got to reach
your legs back.
- This dude is a fighter, Matt.
If he's wet or dry,
the dude is a fighter, Matt.
- 5'10", probably has the
length to get back there.
And he's doing it.
He is doing it.
- He makes no excuses.
This is what it's all about.
When your back is up against
the wall, what do you do?
You try to figure it out.
- Look at this.
- He says adapt and overcome.
You got to fight now.
- Everything you got.
Dig deep.
- Well, you can see Gary is
giving it everything he's got.
- At 42...
- Oh, and he's getting up!
- He's going to go Superman!
- Get out of there!
Just got to leap it.
- Don't think about it.
Just do it.
- This a guy who chose not
to wallow in self-pity,
but chose to fight.
- Oh!
- And that was one of the
greatest runs we have seen.
- Matt, that was phenomenal.
That was phenomenal.
- Ask yourself what
is holding you back.
When you see Gary Weiland,
you got to rethink it.
- As a firefighter,
Gary saves lives.
And on the course,
it was save after save.
On Log Runner, he made it to
the last log where he slipped,
but he gave it everything he had
and fought to the very end.
- Gary, what message
do you hope to send to your son
based on what
you pulled off here tonight?
- I just hope that he can see
that no matter what happens
to you in life,
you can absolutely
get through it.
You can adapt and overcome,
and make the best
of a really tough situation.
So I hope he learns that.
- Oh, I love it, I love it.
Well, y'all hug it out.
Congratulations
on an amazing run.
Guys, back to you.
[cheers and applause]
- Stick around...
- [babbles]
- 'Cause we've got a sneak
peek at the new Minions movie.
- [screams]
- [cackles]
- Coming up...
- [grunts]
- Hmm?
[screams]
- Whoo-hoo!
- On "American Ninja Warrior."
- [whistling]
- Welcome back to the Alamodome
where we've got big guys
doing big things.
Minutes ago,
32-year-old Ben Evert
came to the start line
wearing his welding mask
and a luscious beard,
a look that's not
easy to pull off.
- You look ridiculous.
[laughter]
- The rookie
from Lubbock, Texas,
looked okay
on the Shrinking Steps,
but on Shattered Panes,
his 174 pounds caught up to him.
- Oh, right on his back.
Check this out again.
Boom!
- Another one of larger ninjas
is break dancing
software engineer Mark Farrell.
- This guy wakes up
with passion.
- What?
- Though he's almost 200 pounds,
the mohawked 39-year-old
from Utah
showed he's got plenty
of muscle.
- Wow.
- Great mobility...
- Ooh!
[Mark shouts]
- And some questionable
fashion choices.
- It's got to be
the jean shorts for sure.
- [shouts] Let's go!
- The rookie made it all the
way to the fifth obstacle
where his over-the-top energy
caused him to overshoot it
on Final Frontier.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
Skinny jeans don't work
in space.
- But the biggest impression
was made by the Big Dog,
6'6" Jody Avila.
The tallest ninja of the night
showed amazing agility.
- Boy, he looks like
a tall Spider-Man.
- And though he struggled on
balance obstacles in the past,
it was no issue tonight.
- You see that?
He's excited about that.
- And despite
weighing 215 pounds,
he defied gravity
on Final Frontier.
- Oh, he's showing off!
He's showing off!
- And the seven-time veteran
became our fourth finisher
of the night.
[cheers and applause]
- Let's go, baby!
- [barks] You know who that was.
- [barks]
- Big Dog right there.
- Well, we need a drumroll
for our next ninja.
This is 17-year-old
Jonathan Godbout.
Just graduated from high school,
and he's the drummer
in a prog rock band
he has with his brother.
- Let me see what you got, Matt.
[drumsticks tapping]
- You know, it's...
It's a little rusty.
- Uh, a little?
- Well,
let's talk about Godbout.
He had a sensational
rookie season,
hit three buzzers,
and made it to stage two.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Let's see what Godbout can
do in his sophomore campaign.
Bop, bop, bop.
Nice beat, nice rhythm.
[cheers and applause]
- So impressive.
He was 16 years old,
hit that qualifying buzzer,
semifinals buzzer,
stage one buzzer.
- Matt, he's really upped
his training for this season.
I mean, some intense workouts
like running four miles
every four hours
for two straight days!
- Ooh, I think
he banged his head there.
Good thing that edge is padded.
- He's been doing
Navy SEAL workouts,
and that's made him tough.
- Let's go!
Keep it going.
- He just wants to get off
this obstacle right now...
and he does.
Oh, and he's feeling it.
- I bet he is,
'cause he caught the left side
of his face right
on the top of that pane.
- Now it's Split Decision.
Looks like
he's going with the Minions.
- Oh, yeah.
I like it.
Just graduated from high school.
Showing he's a grown man now.
Both: Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
- And the Minions
get another victim,
and Godbout was someone
we expected to see in Vegas.
- Oh, man.
I'm in shock.
- And so is Bob.
This just went wrong right
from the start.
He didn't
get his feet high enough,
and he tripped right over
Otto's head.
And Godbout's season is over.
Well, after a disappointment
like that,
we need a superhero
to save the day,
and we've got one.
Coming to the start line
is Flybird, AKA Ernesto Perez,
a landscaper
from the New Orleans area.
We told you his story last year.
He and his close friend
Jude Boynton
make YouTube videos
about superheroes
who are on a mission
to stop bullying.
- It's all over.
- [claps] Good job, Flybird.
- Thanks, man.
- The superhero Flybird
represents people
who are getting bullied
just like me.
- Jude's actually played hero
to me at times
because I've seen videos
of him doing Special Olympics,
and he kept falling down,
but he kept getting back up
as well.
- Don't stop, Jude!
Go through the line!
Let's go!
Let's go, Jude!
Pump it up, boy!
- And it made me realize
that a hero really is
not just those who
can punch really hard,
but those who can
take those hard punches
and keep getting back up.
[upbeat music]
Watch out, Batman and Robin.
There are two new superheroes
in town.
- Together, me and him
are an unstoppable force.
- And as Flybird
is on the course,
Skybird joins us,
and we've been told...
- Hey!
- We can reveal his name.
Jude Boynton in here.
- Hey, what's going on, man?
You excited to be here?
- Oh, yeah. I'm excited.
He's going to hit that buzzer
and get past that
dangerous fifth obstacle.
- Yes. My goodness!
- Yes!
- Well, let's get your buddy
Flybird going on the course.
- Flybird
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Yeah!
- Oh!
- Yeah!
- You're doing it there!
[countdown clock beeping]
Here comes Flybird.
- Oh, look at that!
And he's doing it
with this cape on too.
He's flying.
- Oh, yeah!
He's flying through it.
- But now we've got
this brand-new obstacle,
Shattered Panes.
- Shattered Panes.
It's going to be
a pain to get through.
- [laughs]
- Yes, it is.
- You're awesome, buddy!
He's better at puns than we are!
Ernesto competed
last year in Tacoma,
made it to the fourth obstacle.
- Okay, here we go.
- Let's see how he does
on the transfer.
Can he fly?
- Getting ready to...
- Oh!
- Oh, no!
- I can't believe it, Skybird.
- Flybird has fallen,
but Skybird...
- Oh, man.
- What message
do you want to share
to the other children out there
who maybe feel
that they're alone
or they're being picked on?
What would you tell those kids?
- Hey, make a difference
out there,
and go fight for what's right.
- Yes.
- That is an awesome message,
and I know you and Flybird
are going to continue
to fight bullying.
- You're a awesome superhero,
and guess what?
You're an awesome host.
All right?
- You are.
- Don't come taking our job.
- Stick to being a superhero,
all right, buddy?
- I won't, I won't.
- Earlier tonight,
martial arts instructor
Devon Collins
lit it up outside the Alamodome.
And minutes ago,
he brought the fire inside
to the start line
as he showed off his
flaming samurai swords.
- Is he nuts?
Look at that!
- With his students
and family watching
from back in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama,
the 25-year-old rookie blazed
through the Shrinking Steps.
- Got it, Coach.
- But his hopes
were extinguished
on the Shattered Panes.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
The rotation got him!
- New Orleans' Elijah Levée
tore it up at the start line,
showing why he's known
as the Louisianimal.
Levée and his family rescue
and rehabilitate wild animals.
- Yeah, he trains all
sorts of animals, Matt.
He even taught a raccoon
how to swim.
- [chittering]
- Good job.
- And tonight,
Levée let loose on the course.
And with a wild
cheering section behind him,
he manhandled
the second obstacle.
- Oh, my goodness!
- But the Louisianimal was
no match for the Minions.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
And he took one to the kisser.
- Those dang Minions!
- Another rookie,
former college basketball star
Liv Hackmann,
came to play.
- Ooh, great handle.
- The former shooting guard
from Southeast Missouri
State University
dominated on the boards.
- Okay!
- Then used her 5'9" frame
to jump past the Log Runner.
- She just dribbled her way
through Log Runner.
- Though she didn't have the
hops to handle Kickboards...
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- She's still got a shot
to move on,
continuing a string of strong
runs by the women tonight.
Well, here comes another
rookie competitor.
This is 17-year-old
Anabella Heinrichs.
She lives in Colorado,
but she loves the ocean.
And if she's not Ninja training,
you'll find her scuba diving.
[upbeat music]
- I'm a senior in high school.
My day-to-day
is kind of average,
but I've been able to do
some really cool things.
♪ ♪
I've been scuba diving
since I was ten years old.
I've seen, like, massive
manta rays 10 feet wide.
I've seen whale sharks,
which are as long
as a school bus.
When you're scuba diving,
you have to stay just
really calm under pressure.
Like, mental pressure and
also literal water pressure.
That kind of translates
into Ninja
where you just stay calm
no matter what happens.
I love exploring underwater,
but I have no intention
of touching the water tonight.
[water bubbles]
- She got into diving
because her dad's
an underwater filmmaker.
And there he is along with
Anabella's mom and sister.
On the sidelines
with some of the Colorado
ninjas she trains with.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Oh, she coordinated, Matt.
I like the pink hair
and glasses.
- Nice.
5'4", 118 pounds,
ready to take a run
up the Shattered Panes.
Well, she's looking
real confident out here.
Her rookie campaign...
Watch the drop.
- Yeah, dude.
Trust. Come on.
- Come on!
- Confident!
- Come on!
- Trust, trust!
- Ooh.
Has really been working hard
on her upper-body strength,
and it's showing.
I'm just impressed with the
confidence coming out here.
17-year-old rookie
looking solid.
- Nice,
throwing herself on there.
[cheers and applause]
- And she is through.
[cheers and applause]
On now to Split Decision.
Let's see how those sea legs
work on a balance obstacle.
- Uh-oh, I think
she's going to go Minions.
- Is she going Minions?
She's chose the Minions.
No, she's going
for the Log Runner.
- Nice.
Look at that. Ooh!
- Great footwork.
[cheers and applause]
Let's see what kind of power
she has on the Kickboards.
You have to learn how to swim
with a kickboard very often.
- Absolutely, Matt.
- A little different here.
- Pink hair don't care.
She changes her hair color
every month.
She's thinking about
becoming a hairstylist.
- No hesitation in her motion.
Good execution.
- And great adjustment.
You see how she bobbed
her head to the left
to avoid that first
spinning disk?
- Up high! Here we go!
Yes!
- Now she's got to kick.
This next one is... you can see...
The spinning yoke.
- What it's got to be like
for a parent watching your...
Your teenager on this
course doing so well.
Bit of trouble
getting it moving.
- Yeah, she didn't get
that right in the middle,
but she did make the adjustment.
Here we go.
- Got to get those handles,
and yeah, I think that'll work.
- Come on.
- Come on! You got this!
Come on!
- Looking really comfortable
with that upper body, Akbar.
- Ooh! Okay, look at that!
That's perfect form
right there, Matt.
Okay, Anabella!
[cheers and applause]
Anabella Heinrichs made it
all the way to Final Frontier.
- Let's go! Make it 30.
- And she's the
third woman tonight
to reach this fifth obstacle.
Only Katie Bone made it through.
Now another teenage rookie,
Anabella Heinrichs,
looking to do the same.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
- Oh, no.
- The scuba diver goes
for a swim,
but not before lodging
an impressive rookie run.
[cheers and applause]
- The pink-haired teenager
looked impressive,
powering her way through
the first four obstacles.
She just missed on the first
big move on Final Frontier,
but she's got no problems
with the water.
- And Zuri's about
to share some good news.
- You should be very happy
with your run,
because it secured you a place
in the semifinals.
We will see you in Los Angeles.
Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
- Of course.
Guys, back to you.
- Last year, Austin Gray
came up just short
of climbing for $1 million.
Both: No!
- But this veteran's ready
to hold off the teenagers
and win it all this season,
and he's next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Plenty of Minions
in the Alamodome tonight.
College student Erick Zamorano
was wearing the Minion colors
when he hit the course
minutes ago.
But on just the second obstacle,
the course hit back.
- Takes it right on
the bridge of the nose.
- But the 18-year-old recovered
only to take another hard hit
one obstacle later.
- Oh!
Oh, my goodness.
Did the scorpion on that one.
- And he became the second
casualty of the night
on Log Runner.
Kansas dentist Devin Harr
juggles six kids at home,
so juggling toothbrushes
is no problem.
- I'll brush my teeth later.
- With his wife
and one child on the sideline
and the other five
watching back home,
the dentist dad
fought tooth and nail
on one obstacle...
- Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- After another...
- Yeah, just
don't fall in between.
Oh!
- After another.
- Whoo!
- And made it all the way
to Final Frontier.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
Which put a smile on his
and his six kids' faces.
Colorado's Jaelyn Bennett
is a rookie,
but she's been training
with one of the best,
her boyfriend Austin Gray.
Bennett's a 22-year-old
mechanical engineering student,
and she made quick work
of the first few obstacles,
including the Despica-Balls.
- That's how it's done!
- The former gymnast
flew through Kickboards...
- Oh, nice!
[cheers and applause]
- And made it to Final Frontier.
- She's trying
to get to a safe space.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
Despite the fall,
she's safely in the top 30,
continuing a strong night
for our women competitors.
- I'm so proud of you.
I'm so proud of you.
- That was minutes ago.
Now it's Austin's turn.
Zuri, get him started.
- Guys, our next ninja
has been awfully close
to winning $1 million.
Austin Gray has been the
runner-up on "Ninja Warrior"
the past two seasons.
He is definitely one
of the favorites to go
all the way this year.
Only 25 years old,
but he's considered a veteran.
He's one of the guys the other
ninjas really look up to.
- And he's got a lot
of fans here tonight,
but they're his two biggest:
his girlfriend Jaelyn,
who just ran,
and his roommate Nate Hansen,
who runs later.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Let's go! Let's get this!
- Here we go, here we go.
- Austin's so talented
and so generous.
Wears that Share Your Spare
T-shirt
to promote kidney donation.
A few years ago,
he gave one of his kidneys
to his friend Kaylee.
- Nice and easy, Austin.
- She's watching there
with her sister,
and Austin helps spread
that message with every run.
- Another ninja
making a difference.
- Well, like Zuri said, he is
capable of going all the way.
He's got the skills to do it.
And he's through
Shattered Panes.
- Come on, Austin.
- He already told us
he's going to go fast.
He's not even stopping
to look at Despica-Balls.
- Those Despica-Balls
have been diabolical.
- Go through it, go through it.
Oh, nice job.
Right on to the pad.
- Awesome balance.
And you see some of
the ninjas he trains.
Austin Gray has become
a very sought-after coach.
Let's see if the coach
can kick his way
past the Kickboards.
- He is so comfortable
on these obstacles, Matt.
Look at him just kicking it.
[cheers and applause]
- He and Nate Hanson have built
obstacles in their basement,
even a replica of stage three
in Vegas.
- It just shows you
how dedicated those two are
and how hard they work at it.
- Come on, Austin.
Easy!
Easy, come on.
- Nice.
- Just needs the dismount.
- You see how easy it looks
for Austin?
- He's hopping up
to Final Frontier,
and don't look now, but he's
got a shot at the fastest time.
That's currently held
by Owen Dyer
at 3 minutes, 2 seconds.
- Good. Nice.
We like that.
- Yeah, come on!
- Good progress.
- There we go.
Now take that weight and
move it up to the other side.
Nice. Just like that.
- Oh, you can see how it rocks.
- Let's go.
Come on. Keep going.
- You're good, you're good.
Come on.
- You're good, you're good!
- You got this!
- And you can see the challenge
in trying to get
the control stick to move
without rolling out of orbit.
Leaning in on that right side,
nice.
And then get back to center.
- Well, look at what
you can do with one kidney.
- Come on, Austin!
- Come on, Chief.
- Whoo!
Save a life
and complete a course.
- And he's got a shot
at the fastest time.
Will he take it
or go for the Mega Wall?
- Oh, he ain't messing around.
He going for the fastest time.
- And he's going to do it!
[buzzer blares]
[soft dramatic music]
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
- You didn't even look at it.
I thought you might give
it a glance, Austin.
- I gave it a glance.
I thought about it.
- Why not?
[Matt laughs]
How come you didn't do it?
- Man, I've only hit
one qualifying buzzer.
Let's just... I just want
to get it done.
- Last year,
you made it to stage three.
Could this be your year?
- I think this is my year.
- Well, you're off
to a good start.
You've got the fastest time
of the night.
- Whoo!
- Hit that buzzer one more time!
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go!
- What a run!
We got no shortage
of excitement tonight,
but get ready for even
more action with the Minions!
"The Rise of Gru"
in theaters July 1st.
- Here's an exclusive
sneak peek at the film.
- Welcome back to Minions Night
on "American Ninja Warrior."
When Megan Rowe,
the Axe-Throwing Ninja,
hit the start line,
it inspired us to give it a try.
- All right, here we go.
Let me show you how to do this.
- What could go wrong?
- You got to go just like this.
[glass shattering]
- I think you just killed
one of our cameramen.
[Akbar laughs]
Rowe, the three-time veteran,
was a lot smoother
than we were...
- Flip mode!
Come on now.
- Rolling through
the early obstacles.
- She's got great form, Matt.
- The graphic designer
made it to Vegas last season,
so it was a bit of a shock...
both: Oh!
- When she fell on Kickboards.
And she'll have to wait and see
if it's good enough to move on.
Hip hop musician Emmanuel Aouad
got the crowd on its feet.
- ♪ Mind over matter ♪
♪ A machine clank-clank
when I'm going up the ladder ♪
♪ Take a few spills while
you elevate your skills ♪
♪ Ain't for the fame,
it's for the thrills ♪
- As we're laying down some
of his original lyrics,
the 34-year-old
from Plano, Texas,
laid down an impressive run.
- That's my ninja right there.
- He made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle.
- Nice... oh!
[air horn blares]
Too aggressive.
- Despite the fall,
that run was good enough
to earn him a trip
to the semifinals
and a kiss from the wife.
Isaiah Wakeham also had
something to celebrate.
He turned 21 today.
- Guess we should give him
a little toast, huh?
- We had the champagne waiting,
but first, the two-time veteran
had to get through the course.
- He made that look easy.
- The artist and filmmaker was
almost flawless...
- Balling!
- And tried to give himself
a 10-grand birthday present
on the Mega Wall...
- Oh, my gosh!
He could touch it!
- Oh!
But he regrouped
and got his buzzer...
- Let's go!
- And savored
his first glass of champagne.
- Cheers.
Happy birthday, man.
Toast.
[glass dings]
- Well, now it's time
for the other Wakeham,
Isaiah's kid sister, Isabella.
She just graduated
from high school
and is on her way
to Texas A&M this fall.
And if her first year of college
goes like her first year
of Ninja,
she's going to be just fine.
In her rookie campaign
last season,
she was the top woman
in her night of qualifying...
- Ooh! Look at that!
- And semifinals...
Where she made it all the way
to the ninth obstacle...
- Oh, yeah!
- And when she and her brother
both qualified for Vegas...
- You're both headed to Vegas.
[both cheering]
- Their mom followed through
on a promise
and got a tattoo of us.
- That's a really good forearm
right there, Matt.
- Then Isabella had a stellar
performance on stage one,
going farther than any
female rookie in history.
- Oh!
- Leaving the season knowing
that I left my mark
as a rookie and as a female
was phenomenal.
But I know
I can do better this year,
and I'm so excited to show that.
[cheers and applause]
- Isabella's mom and brother
on the sidelines as always.
Now, shockingly, it turns out
those tattoos of us
were just temporary.
But she's still getting
a tattoo, just not of us.
- Oh, man.
- Isabella's dad
and other ninjas
watching back in Houston.
Plus her grandparents are
watching with a Minion friend.
- Who is that? Is that Kevin?
[laughter]
[countdown clock beeping]
- Last year,
Isabella and her brother
made it to the same spot
on the course
in qualifying and semifinals.
- That bodes well for her
'cause we just saw Isaiah
hit a buzzer.
- 5'5" and so strong.
- Watch that tilt,
45-degree tilt.
- And just rock solid.
You can see her anticipating it.
- All right, girl!
- And again, one of the things
I love is she has such focus.
She's been watching the ninjas,
formulating her plan of attack.
- Yeah, that's right...
Oh, she's had a slip!
That's a great recovery
right there.
- Great recovery.
- Matt, that's the way
you got to do it.
Let's look at it again.
Her left foot slipped
as she was making the jump.
Luckily, she was still able
to make the grab.
- Well, the great ones know
something's always going
to go wrong.
It's how you respond to it.
- And that's the sign
of a great athlete
and a great ninja:
making the adjustments
when stuff goes wrong.
[cheers and applause]
all: Minions! Minions! Minions!
- On to Split Decision.
And you know the grandparents
are hoping
for the Despica-Balls,
but she's headed
towards the Log Runner.
A nice smile to her family.
- She told family, "No, I'm
not messing with the Minions.
No Despica-Balls for me."
- Great, great, great, great!
- Right through it.
[cheers and applause]
And the great night
for the women continues.
Right now, 5 are guaranteed
to make the top 30.
Got to get through
Kickboards here.
This obstacle
should be in her wheelhouse.
- Yeah, right there.
Push.
- Ooh.
- Go! Come on!
- The powerful kick,
nice transfer there.
- Good lache.
- I love the wide angle
and the adjustment there.
Good.
- You got it, girl.
Straighten it out.
Fix it, fix it, fix it.
- Started ninja training
eight years ago
when she was ten years old.
Part of this
new generation of ninjas
that grew up on this sport...
They are so good.
I love it
'cause she is so smiling
and sweet off the course,
but you see the focus that
makes her such a good ninja.
And she is through.
And with her time,
she's guaranteed a spot
in the top 30,
but you know she wants a buzzer.
- It's good to see you guys.
- Hey, good to see you!
- Good to see you too!
- You know,
it might be easier to talk
if you get a little closer.
- Okay.
[laughter]
I'll be there in a minute.
- That's what we figured.
Final Frontier, though,
has been a roadblock.
Only six ninjas
have gotten past it.
One of them was her brother.
- This is all you.
Aim high, aim high.
[cheers and applause]
- Katie Bone, another teenager,
the only woman
to make it through.
You see Isabella is really
having to fight
to move that bar.
- Hop it, Bell, hop it.
- Easy, easy, easy.
- There you go.
- Let it swing, Bell.
- Big transfer.
- All right, she's gonna beam
to this other planet.
- Transfer.
- Watch that bar.
You could just... oh no!
[air horn blares]
Sha-na-na!
- She didn't
get the buzzer she wanted,
but still an impressive run
by Isabella Wakeham.
- Belly!
- And her brother's jumping in
to let her know it.
- You're still a badass.
- You got me, bro.
- She looked very strong early,
but like so many others tonight,
couldn't make the moves
on the fifth obstacle.
But we'll still see her
in the semifinals.
- Well, Akbar, we are
on the verge of history.
Right now, there are
a record-breaking
7 women in the top 30.
But whether they stay there
will depend
on our final runners,
one of which
is the little big man,
5'2" Nate Hansen.
Gnarly Nate is
always must-see TV,
and he's next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Some big drama here
in the Alamodome
in these last few minutes.
Six women, the most ever,
have already secured a spot
in the top 30.
They're guaranteed
to move on to the semifinals.
And another woman, Megan Rowe,
could make it seven.
She sat in 28th place
with three runners left.
Minutes ago,
she watched nervously
as teenager Christian Youst
did the course.
The 17-year-old from Dallas
is only 5'4,"
but it didn't stop him
from making big moves
on the course.
[cheers and applause]
- He even tried to become
the shortest ninja ever
to take down the Mega Wall.
Both: Oh!
- But settled
for the regular wall
and celebrated
his very first buzzer.
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go!
Let's go!
Whoo!
- But that run pushed Megan
to 29th with two runners left,
including four-time
veteran Elliott Jolivette.
Now, if he made it
to the fourth obstacle,
that would prevent Megan
from clinching a spot.
Jolivette has made it to the
national finals in the past,
and he looked confident early on
as he lined up
at Split Decision.
- All right,
going through Log Runner.
Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
- And that shocking fall meant
Megan Rowe was assured
a spot in the top 30.
And even bigger history
has been made!
- What?
- 7 women in the top 30
for the first time ever!
- Herstory!
Herstory has been made!
- Well, now there's only
one runner left.
You can see it on his shirt.
He's Gnarly.
This is Gnarly Ninja Nate,
Colorado college student
Nate Hanson.
He's only 5'2",
but in his brief ninja career,
he has become
a huge fan favorite.
[soft dramatic music]
- At the age of 12,
I was diagnosed with
growth hormone deficiency,
and so I had
to take growth hormone
for about four or five years
of my life.
♪ ♪
It didn't work as well
as we thought.
I was supposed to be 5'8",
only ended up being 5'2."
Now I realize that being 5'2"
is one of the biggest benefits
in "Ninja Warrior"
that I could ever
have asked for.
It's easier for me
to fly between things,
all that weight that
I don't have to hold up
makes it really beneficial.
- And he's going to set
a new fastest time!
- You always bet
on the Gnarly Ninja!
- Turns out there's
a lot of smaller ninjas
like me out there.
- Come on.
Yes.
Yes, good.
- After my first season,
I got a lot of messages
from people wanting me to
come out and teach Ninja camps
or speak to their
Ninja students,
and really just influence them
in a positive way.
We may be small,
but are we strong?
- Yep.
- And if we fall down,
what do we do?
- We always get back up.
- Growing up as a kid,
I watched the show,
and I looked up
to all the superstars.
And it's crazy that now I get
to share my story with kids
and make sure that they know
that nothing's impossible.
- Nothing is going
to stop Gnarly Nate
from getting that buzzer!
[buzzer blares]
- It's a miracle that
I am where I am today.
Whoo!
This is only the beginning,
and I'm ready
to inspire thousands more.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, Nate's going to
have folks cheering him on
from all over the country,
including his mom
and three brothers.
Down on the sideline,
his roommate Austin Gray
along with other ninjas
he trains with in Colorado.
[countdown clock beeping]
And this dude is intense.
Always goes
with his pedal to the metal.
- Yeah, that's right, Matt.
He's got... he's got a new look
for this season, Matt.
Grown out his beard,
got some new ink.
- And you can just see...
What I love about him,
he's a business student.
He always has a plan,
a plan of attack.
- Yeah!
- And he's been great
at executing.
Made it to Vegas last year.
- Matt, he's not just
an inspirational story.
He has made himself
an elite ninja.
- Boy, he just looks
locked in, Akbar.
He's anticipating all the moves,
going right to Log Runner.
- Yeah, he wastes no time, Matt.
Great balance.
Look at him go, look at him go.
He is really so efficient,
and it looks like he's going
for the fastest time.
- Well, that's currently held
by his roommate, Austin Gray.
You know that adds
some extra motivation.
He would love to have bragging
rights over his buddy.
- So many people
doubted him growing up, Matt.
- And he uses that
to motivate him,
and this guy works so hard
to be this good.
Didn't get a chance
to twist those handles.
Got to reach out.
Got it.
Look at this.
- Matt, that man
is on a mission.
[cheers and applause]
- Not even breathing hard,
Akbar.
- Come on, dude. Come on.
- Breathe!
Heart rate down and breathe.
You got this.
- Go Nate!
- Austin Gray and everyone
else in the building
cheering him on,
but he's got to get through
this difficult fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
The clock slowly ticking away,
but he has to be careful.
Got to make small hops
so he doesn't swing off.
- Keep doing that!
- Got to make a big move.
- Keep that up.
- Nice.
- Good move!
- Whoo-hoo!
Sounded like Gnarly just landed.
- And you can see
how precarious these get.
Both hands on the inside.
[cheers and applause]
But now he's in there
between Earth and Mars.
He's going to launch back
to space station.
That's home.
- All right. Park it.
Park it right there.
Do not let gravity win.
- Got it!
- Nice!
- Just needs the dismount.
- It's got to be the beard,
it's got to be the beard!
- Now just needs the wall,
and he can do it.
And gets that buzzer!
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go! Whoo!
- The fastest time of the night!
[cheers and applause]
- ♪ Got it down,
'cause it's going down ♪
[Matt laughs]
- Whoo!
- Nate, you know there
are a lot of kids out there,
some who maybe
get picked on for their size.
What would you tell them?
- You know, I grew up
in a middle school
and high school
getting bullied all the time,
and "Ninja Warrior"
really helped me
find who I was as a person.
So find something that you
truly are passionate about,
and you can really
find your identity
and then spread the love and
the passion with other people.
And that's what I'm doing here.
- Oh, spreading the love.
Yes, you are, man.
- Hey, man, we are proud
to watch you, Nate.
We'll see you in LA.
- Thank you very much.
I love you guys.
[chuckles]
- So Nate Hansen lands
atop our final leaderboard,
just a few seconds ahead
of his roommate, Austin Gray.
We had eight finishers in all,
including 16-year-old
Katie Bone,
the night's only woman
to hit a buzzer.
Among the non-finishers
moving on are the Flyboy,
the 16-year-old from Texas,
Isaiah Thomas.
In all, there are 30 competitors
who are advancing
to the semifinals.
We'll see all of them
in a few weeks
in Los Angeles
at Universal Studios.
That includes this
record-setting group
of seven women who
made the top 30,
the most we've ever had.
- And we have
to say a huge thanks
to the Minions
for being here tonight.
- And be sure
to get your tickets
to go see
"Minions: The Rise of Gru"
in theaters July 1st.
- Well, that does it
for tonight.
For Akbar Gbajabiamila
and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next time
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[cheers and applause]
[dramatic music]
[clicks tongue twice]
- Huh?
Bello!
- Tonight on
"American Ninja Warrior..."
- This obstacle
can be very tricky.
All: Minions! Minions!
- We're doing
something despicable.
[Diana Ross & Tame Impala's
"Turn Up The Sunshine"]
- ♪ All around the world ♪
- Those Despica-Balls
have been diabolical.
- ♪ Turn up the sunshine ♪
♪ We got to
turn up the sunshine ♪
- That ball was despicable.
- [pops lips]
- We're teaming up
with the Minions.
- Kevin, you're live.
- Oh.
Okay, uh...
- ♪ All around the world ♪
all: Minions, Minions!
Minions! Minions!
- ♪ Turn up the sunshine ♪
- Oh, banana!
- Ba-na-na.
In honor
of their upcoming movie,
we let the little guys
run wild on our set...
- [screams]
- [cackles]
- And they
threw themselves into it.
- [grunts] Whoo-hoo!
- ♪ A long night,
waiting for the light ♪
♪ Waiting for the light ♪
- It's gonna be another night
to remember at the Alamodome
as we head into week four
of qualifying
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everyone,
I'm Matt Iseman.
- And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, not only will we see
lots of ninjas tonight,
we're going to see
lots of Minions.
- That's right, big man.
The new film
"Minions: The Rise of Gru"
arrives in theaters July 1st,
but you're going
to get a sneak peek of them
on our course tonight.
- We're going to see those
little guys everywhere.
In fact, they're even taking
over one of our obstacles.
- It's going to be ba-na-nas.
[Akbar laughs]
For more on that,
let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- Yeah, guys.
Those little Minions
have come up with a big,
new balance obstacle
which they call
the Despica-Balls.
As one of the options
at Split Decision,
our ninjas can choose
to run across the heads
of Otto, Bob, Stuart, and Kevin.
To get there, the ninjas will
have to survive
the new obstacle,
Shattered Panes,
with boards that rotate,
drop, and twist.
Also debuting tonight
in the number five spot
is Final Frontier,
a balancing act between planets.
[cheers and applause]
Guys, it's going
to be a fun night.
- Thanks, Zuri.
Well, the Minions
may be movie stars,
but we've got plenty
of ninja stars too.
- Yeah, that's right.
Check out this all-star lineup.
We've got the runner-up
from the past two seasons,
Austin Gray.
He's annihilating this course!
Along with
his Colorado roommate,
the 5'2" Ninja Hero,
Gnarly Nate Hansen.
And the crowd erupting!
Plus, Barclay Stockett is back,
and the six-time
veteran from Houston
has some big news to share.
And leading the teenagers
is the Fly Boy,
the 16-year-old from Texas,
Isaiah Thomas.
Fastest time of the night!
[cheers and applause]
- Well, put your seats
in the upright position
and get ready for takeoff,
because up first
is a 15-year-old
from Greenwood, Indiana,
Jess Wombles.
She's got the aviator glasses
and her own toy plane
because this ninja
is ready to soar.
[dramatic music]
- I'm kind of an
adrenaline junkie.
I love to fly through
obstacles in the air...
And I love to fly planes.
[airplane engine droning]
♪ ♪
- Most kids are learning
to drive cars at 16,
but Jess is learning
to fly planes and drive cars.
- Ready to get started?
- Yep.
All right.
- Pre-flight checklist.
[upbeat music]
- My dad is an
international airline pilot,
but when me and my dad fly,
we fly a Cessna 152.
- Are you all set?
- Ready for takeoff.
- All right.
- It's a small, little airplane.
We have four seats in there,
and that's where I first learned
how to cruise in the sky
by myself.
♪ ♪
Flying gives me
a sense of freedom.
Whenever you're
up in the clouds,
you leave all of your problems
down on the runway.
- Being able to share a passion
for flying with Jessica
is really special to me.
It's hard as your teenager
is growing up.
They don't want to spend
as much time with their parent.
But this bond
between the two of us
really gives us some great
father-daughter time.
- Whenever I fly,
I have control
over the whole airplane.
So whenever I get up
on an obstacle,
I have to remind myself
that I'm fully in control.
And I've been Ninja training
for 3 1/2 years now.
- Come on.
Up, up, up, up, up, up, up.
Yeah.
There you go!
- I'm so excited
to finally show everyone
what I've worked so hard for.
[dramatic music]
- Yeah, Jess!
Nice.
- As a pilot,
I fly through the sky.
But tonight, I'm gonna
fly through this course.
♪ ♪
- This is your host teller
telling you
to fasten your seatbelts.
Jess is ready,
her parents are ready,
and so are we.
Sky Ninja,
you are cleared for takeoff.
[countdown clock beeping]
She is now free
to move about the course.
- Let me tell you,
I love her energy.
[cheers and applause]
- She's going
to give us our first look
at this new obstacle,
Shattered Panes.
This first one will rotate
as you run up it.
- Uh-oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Okay.
There you go.
- A little turbulence.
- Now she's going
to make this big move.
This second one will drop.
- She's got her sister
and friend
watching from Nashville.
Nice.
- A little bit
of a rough landing,
but she's still going.
- Let's go! Let's go!
- Watch the tilt here
on this third pane.
- All right, smooth landing.
Nice.
- Ooh.
- That was smooth enough,
that was smooth enough.
- She regripped.
And Jess Wombles,
the Sky Ninja's,
on to Split Decision.
- She can go left to Log Runner
or right
to our Minions obstacle,
the Despica-Balls.
All: Minions! Minions!
Minions! Minions!
- And the crowd is chanting,
"Minions!"
She's going to do it!
She's going to try
the Despica-Balls.
- Oh, that's what
I'm talking about.
She knows she wants
to run on the heads
of Otto, Bob, Stuart, and Kevin.
- Now, those heads
will spin and rotate.
Can the pilot navigate
her way through?
- Right, now...
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
The Minions get
their first victim.
Jess Wombles is grounded.
- Well, take a look at this.
She was fine running
across Otto and Bob,
but on Stuart, her left foot
was too far inside,
and she crash-landed on Kevin.
- Whoo!
That was so fun!
It was literally
the best moment of my life.
- Well,
Jess Wombles is a fly girl,
and up next is the Fly Boy,
Isaiah Thomas.
The now 16-year-old
from Garland, Texas,
who actually blew us away
last season.
In his very first run
in Tacoma qualifying,
he not only hit a buzzer...
- He's a bad boy!
Look at him go.
- He had the fastest time
of the night.
- I'm built different!
- Oh!
He said he's built different.
I like the swag
from the young gun.
- After the show aired,
it's felt like people,
mainly on social media,
found me as cocky
or overly confident,
but I was just a normal,
teenage boy living his dream.
I'm super excited to come back.
Ready to show everyone
what I have to share.
- Well, Matt, I love this kid.
He's got a little swag, but
he backs it up on the course.
- His mom's on the sideline,
and he's got a big group
of friends watching
back in Texas where he trains.
[all cheering]
[countdown clock beeping]
Got the nickname Fly Boy
because he just
sails through obstacles.
Just like that.
[cheers and applause]
Goes right in
to Shattered Panes.
- You asking yourself, does he
look a little different?
Yup, because he grew.
He grew a lot.
He's now 6'1".
And back on "Ninja Junior,"
he was only 5'7".
- Made it to stage two
in Vegas last year.
And he's quickly
through two obstacles.
Now he's got a choice
at Split Decision.
Just saw Jess Wombles fall
on the Despica-Balls,
and he's going with Log Runner.
High school basketball player,
got long legs.
- Yeah, nice.
[cheers and applause]
- Now another
new obstacle, Kickboards.
He needs to use his feet
to knock the boards up,
then swing up
to those big, red disks.
- There you go.
Kick it. Nice!
- Just like that.
Now got to do the same thing
on the second board.
- Man, Fly Boy is flying
through this course.
- He's going to use his feet
to line up the disk
before he kicks it out.
- There you go.
Kick it.
- Powerful kick
right into place.
- Another good transfer.
He is just looking so solid.
Nice.
[cheers and applause]
And he has flown through
these first four obstacles.
- What's up, man?
- Come on, baby!
- Now the last of the night's
new obstacles, Final Frontier.
Has to use that bar to balance
his way across these planets.
- Nice. Oh, watch out.
Watch out, watch out now.
- This is a different kind
of obstacle.
You really have
to shift your weight,
and that's going to
create problems.
- You can see his...
He's even on the bars, Matt.
That can be a little bit tricky.
He's got to make sure
he transfers it over,
lean heavy to the right.
- Oh!
- Lean heavy to the right, Matt!
- Fly Boy splashes down.
[audience groans]
[all groaning]
- I'm built different!
- Oh, he's built different.
He's still having fun, Matt.
- We'll have to wait and see,
but with his fast time,
he's still got a good chance
of moving on.
- Watch as he tries
to make the shift
over to that small planet.
He just missed.
This obstacle is a tough one.
- Tonight...
the Minions are here.
- [speaking Minionese]
- Whoo-hoo-hoo!
- Plus a whole lot more.
- Flybird
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- [laughs]
- Yeah!
- We've got some of the most
inspiring athletes
of the season.
- Oh, look at that!
Come on!
- Along with old friends,
and even a visitor
from the North Pole.
- Ho, ho, ho, ho!
- Okay, Santa.
- It's going to be
out of this world...
- One large step for man.
- When we light the candles
and pop a cork.
- Toast.
[glass dings]
- On "American Ninja Warrior."
- It's Minions Night here
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[Strauss'
"Also sprach Zarathustra"]
But some other creatures
have invaded the course.
That's because minutes ago,
the Space Ninja, Adam Naids,
landed at the start line.
- One large step for man.
- Naids works for NASA
and is developing a toilet
that works in space,
so he was ready to potty.
The four-time veteran
had lift-off at the start.
- Okay, I see you!
- And he made it to the end
of Shattered Panes
before splashdown.
- Oh no!
[air horn blares]
Looks like the potty is over.
- New Mexico's Megan Jarmosevich
is a flight nurse.
She flies in a helicopter,
bringing critically-ill
patients to hospitals
every day for work.
Yet at the top
of Shattered Panes,
the 39-year-old seemed
to have a fear of heights.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
And she just...
[air horn blares]
Splashed down.
[applause]
- That was a big jump.
- Then Tyler Yamauchi awakened
the dragon with a shishimai.
He had two of his kids
inside a traditional
shishimai costume
to bring him good luck.
- Okay, Yamauchi.
- And it seemed to work
as the 5'1" veteran
survived Shattered Panes.
- Did you see the way
he threw his body?
- At Split Decision...
all: Minions, Minions, Minions!
- His wife wanted Despica-Balls,
and Mama knew best.
- Nice!
- He reached Final Frontier,
but that's where
Yamauchi's good fortune ended.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- But it may be enough to get
him into the semifinals.
- Whoo!
That was fun though.
- Well, it may be summer,
but our next competitor
is already thinking
about Christmas.
It's 21-year-old Tristan Wyman.
And guess where he's from.
- I don't know, where?
- The North Pole.
This is a real place.
[upbeat festive music]
Now, for most of the year,
this town of 2,700 people
is ice cold.
Temperatures sometimes dip
to -60 degrees.
But that doesn't stop
this Ninja fanatic
from training
on his homemade obstacles
with some unusual spectators.
[reindeer grunts]
But the coolest thing
about this town
is that it's basically
Christmas all year round.
[sleigh bells jingling]
- There's a Santa Claus house,
reindeer all over the place,
and we got candy cane
street lights.
♪ ♪
Santa delivers every Christmas,
so it's my turn to deliver
on the course tonight.
- Well, Tristan's got
a VIP guest to watch his run.
That's right.
Santa is here.
The most famous
North Pole resident
has come down to watch Tristan.
- We got Santa in the house!
- Let's go!
Yeah!
- Some other friends and
family are watching
from back in Alaska.
Tristan's family
on the sidelines,
everyone wearing
Christmas colors.
I think it's time
to find out if Tristan
has been naughty or nice.
[countdown clock beeping]
Santa and Tristan traveled
over 3,000 miles
to be here tonight.
- Matt, for a kid,
it's got to be pretty cool
to grow up in the North Pole
where it's Christmas
all year round.
- Tristan's trying to get
traction on Shattered Panes.
Now he's okay.
Got to jump to the second pane.
- Oh, I think he hit his head
on that one.
- Now this third pane
has a 60-degree tilt.
- If you don't land
in the right place,
it could be lights out.
- Well, Tristan looks like
he's okay
with these reindeer games.
[cheers and applause]
On to Split Decision.
- Whoa, Matt,
before we get there,
he almost split his head
right here.
- Ooh!
- Took a shot to the dome.
- And looks like he's going
for Log Runner.
Santa's good
at going down chimneys...
and he's going to run
right through the logs.
[cheers and applause]
Let's see what's
in his stockings,
if he has the power
to move these kickboards.
5'11", 160.
- Yeah, he's got to kick this
first door like he's naughty.
- But for Tristan,
it's such a dream to be here.
A superfan of the show,
been training for this moment
for nine years.
Says he has an encyclopedic
knowledge of the show.
And now this second disk spins.
Got to turn it 90 degrees
so it's easier to grab.
You see him reaching out
with his foot
to make the adjustment there.
- Strong! Yeah.
- And it looks like
Rudolph's nose there.
He's got to grab on
to it on this kickboard.
- Matt, he's a student
at the University of Alaska,
and he's done his homework.
He knows how to do it.
[cheers and applause]
- Trying to get that dismount,
and what a rookie effort
this is.
Well, he is spreading
Christmas cheer
for all the crowd to hear.
Santa is pleased.
And Tristan Wyman's
been moving quickly.
He's on the fifth obstacle
already, Final Frontier.
Oh.
- Oh, boy. To Jupiter.
- You see how
he's turning around?
- How is he hanging on?
- He's twisting up
like a pretzel.
Both: Oh!
- Ho, ho, ho, ho!
What happened?
- Ho, ho, ho!
- Let's go!
- Tristan Wyman still elated.
Will he move on?
He's going to have to wait
and see what's under the tree.
- Man, he made
the North Pole proud.
This 21-year-old knows how
to spread the Christmas cheer,
and he made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle.
A great run for the rookie.
- We'll have to wait and see
if Tristan and Santa
are moving on to the semifinals.
[bell jingling]
- Coming up,
she can light up the course.
- And she's done it!
- And after some rough years,
the sparkle is back
for Barclay Stockett.
She's up next on
"American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to Minions Night
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Minutes ago,
Houston's impressive mom,
Sabrina Tamraz,
showed why they call her
Little Rowdy.
- Look at them abs.
- With her four kids
watching at home,
the 5'1" 39-year-old
looked confident
on the Shrinking Steps.
Look at that!
But the rookie wasn't quite
ready for the Shattered Panes.
- Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
[upbeat country music]
- Louisiana's Andrew Naquin
catches bullfrogs down
in the bayou,
and the Cajun Zeus brought us
a frog named Francis.
- [ribbits]
- He's saying, ribbit,
ribbit, ribbit.
- [ribbits]
- On the course,
Naquin lost his hat early.
- He lost his crown,
and I'm about to lose Francis!
- Naquin has fallen
on a balance obstacle
three out of the four years
he's competed...
- Hop, hop, hop.
Nice.
- But he survived tonight.
One obstacle later,
Naquin couldn't make the leap
on Kickboards.
No!
[air horn blares]
- Zoom in on this!
Francis is smiling!
- [ribbits]
- In his trademark
three-piece suit,
the Classy Ninja,
Donovan Metoyer,
looked sharp on the course.
- He's dressed for success!
- Two years ago,
Metoyer went 360
on the Warped Wall,
and tonight, he was
promising something special
for the 18-foot Mega Wall
- And he always impresses us!
- But to get there, he'd have
to get past Final Frontier.
- That's my ninja right there.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
- So he didn't get a Mega Wall,
but it was still worthy
of a mic drop.
- What were the plans
if you made it
up the Mega Wall today?
- Oh, sorry.
- [laughs]
- All eyes are on the start line
as one of our
all-time favorites steps up.
It's the Sparkly Ninja,
Barclay Stockett,
This little firecracker
from Houston, Texas,
has had a couple of rough years,
but this season,
Barclay is healthy and happy.
[soft dramatic music]
- I met Tee Jackson in 2017
at a Ninja competition.
- We became friends
and bonded over
our love of Ninja
and caring for people.
Nice job!
- Tee and I were friends
for about two full years.
Best friends.
♪ ♪
Whoo!
That's awesome.
- And then my mom got sick,
and Tee moved from Kentucky
all the way to Texas
to help take care of her
during hospice.
♪ ♪
That was the worst time
of my life.
I think the only reason
I survived my mom passing
is because I had Tee.
- ♪ Say hello like it's
the first time that you met ♪
- And, um,
that's when I realized
we weren't just best friends.
We're actually completely
and totally in love
with each other.
- ♪ I'm finally seeing who
I am ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I feel the power coming back ♪
- [claps] Let's go!
- Oh, shoot!
So we bought a house,
we got a puppy.
- Yes.
- We have a bazillion plants.
- Plants, plants, plants,
plants, plants.
- And we got engaged.
- Ooh!
[both laugh]
[upbeat music]
- When we first started dating,
I was afraid of, like,
what will my family say,
what will society say?
But the best thing
I've ever done in my life
is allow myself to love you.
- Same here.
♪ ♪
- We want you to know that
if you don't have someone
in your life
that will embrace you...
both: We will.
- ♪ I feel the power
coming back ♪
- It's so good to see Barclay
with that sparkle again.
And Tee will be
cheering her on as always.
[countdown clock beeping]
Always love seeing this woman
on the course.
- She's only 5 feet tall,
the shortest competitor tonight,
but she can do big things.
- In the past, she's made it
to the National Finals.
She's been part of Team USA
in our USA vs. the World
competition,
went up against the men
in our skills competition,
trying to regain that form.
- But at her size, 5 feet,
this is a long jump.
- You can do it! Let's go!
- She's got it.
She doesn't care.
The intensity on
Barclay Stockett, I love it.
- She's got that sparkle
in her eyes, Matt.
She's back.
- And that was the thing
we love about Barclay.
Sparkly on the sidelines,
but intense on the course.
And a little roll.
Lots of friends supporting her
on the side lines.
She's always been
a fan favorite.
So great to see
that smile again.
[cheers and applause]
- Matt, think back to her
first run on "Ninja Warrior."
She fell on Log Runner,
so she's staying away
and going to try her luck
on Despica-Balls.
- You could see Otto
giving her the stink eye.
- Come on, Barclay.
Come on.
[Matt chuckles]
- This ain't easy.
- Ooh.
- Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.
Ooh, I told you!
[cheers and applause]
It's in her eyes.
Look in her eyes.
She is intense and ready.
- Now on to the Kickboards.
If she gets through this,
she'll have a very good shot
at moving on.
We know she's got power.
Going to need to be explosive
to get these 50-pound boards up.
- Boom!
- Come on, babe!
Lock it in!
[cheers and applause]
- Now she's gonna need
a big lache up
'cause she didn't get that
board close and horizontal...
- Nice.
- But she can fly.
Barclay, we've seen her
on the Super Salmon ladder.
We know
she's got grip and power.
Doesn't have long legs,
but still able
to rotate that disk.
- So much power,
but look at that reach.
Really has to stretch out, Matt.
Doesn't have a lot of
real estate there on the legs.
- Come on, babe!
[Barclay grunts]
- Nice. Oh, wow!
- I don't know that she can
get out there at 5 feet.
- Oh no, she can. She can.
- Find a way down, Barclay!
- But she's got to stretch it
a little bit.
That means she's going to have
to hang on a little longer,
but you know what?
If anybody has the
upper-body strength, it's her.
- Well, here she goes.
Locked in.
And she's smiling,
she is pumped.
[cheers and applause]
- Matt, there's only one thing
that sparkles in space,
and that is a star.
Barclay Stockett's going
to be a star in this obstacle.
- Hey, Barclay, you're back.
- I'm back, baby!
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, she is back,
and the best way to show it
would be to get her first
buzzer ever in qualifying.
- She's going to have
to get through Final Frontier,
and we've already seen some
top ninjas fall here.
- She's going to go one ring.
Nice.
- She's got the power.
- Yep.
- She got to get
into Jupiter's orbit there,
the bigger planet.
She's on Jupiter.
- Got the handles
in her hands there.
- All right, okay.
There's a shiny star
right there.
- And looking very comfortable.
Really using
that control stick well.
- Now change the weight over.
Nice, nice.
- Got it.
Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
Slips off.
The Sparkly Ninja doused,
Tee coming to hug her.
- I love you!
- And you can see the joy
back on her face once again.
[applause]
- This looked like
the Barclay of old,
powering through obstacles
and flashing that smile
on the course.
She made it to the fifth
obstacle before falling,
and that's her best run
in years.
- ♪ I feel the power
coming back ♪
- Barclay!
- Whoo!
- I am so proud of you.
- [sobs]
- You... oh, my God.
You have had
the roughest few years.
That was so...
That was so amazing.
How are you feeling?
- I'm, like,
completely overwhelmed
because I just came here
with no expectations.
I just wanted
to have a good time.
I just wanted to, like,
take Ninja back.
- Yeah.
- When I lost my mom, I just...
I felt like
I lost Ninja too, and...
- Girl, I'll tell you
one thing right now,
you did not lose Ninja.
You showed us
just how much you have it.
What do you say
to the folks at home
who are watching and seeing
this triumph over tragedy?
- It's just incredible to see
that you can find happiness
after a tragedy,
and I just never thought
I would have that.
- Well, I am so happy for you.
We are clearly so happy for you.
We love you, Barclay.
You are such an inspiration,
girl.
All right.
Oh, one more small thing.
We'll see you in Los Angeles.
You're heading to semifinals.
[cheers and applause]
- Coming up,
she's a world-class climber
bringing her skills to Ninja...
- All right.
- But there's something
special about Katie Bone.
- Type 1 didn't end my life.
It just changed it.
- Her inspiring story
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- Welcome back to the Alamodome,
where the University of Texas
San Antonio
cheer squad is
showing our ninjas some love.
Minutes ago,
Texas mom Christie Brophy
had a big group cheering her on,
including her husband
and four sons.
This 41-year-old
air force veteran
looked smooth on takeoff...
- That's what I'm talking about!
- But it was a rough landing
on Shattered Panes.
- Ooh!
Check this out again.
Boom!
[air horn blares]
- Then it was active duty
army soldier Nick DeMore.
The 34-year-old father had
to fight for every inch
with close calls
on the second...
Whoa!
And the third obstacle...
- Ooh!
Hell of a save right there!
- Before it finally
slipped away on the fourth.
- No!
I want to see that one again!
Oh, boy.
That looked like that hurts.
- College sophomore
David Tomassoni
turned 20 tonight,
and some of his Ninja friends
were ready to celebrate.
The rookie
from Boulder, Colorado,
made it a night to remember.
- He's got a lot
of potential here as a rookie.
- In his first time
on the course,
Tomassoni made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
- Oh, there's the black hole!
- He didn't get a buzzer,
but it's likely good enough
to move on, and that's
reason to celebrate.
- Go ahead,
blow out your candles, man.
[cheers and applause]
- Up next
is one of this season's
most promising young rookies.
This is New Mexico's Katie Bone.
She's only 16, but she is
a world-class rock climber,
and she's done it
while facing the challenges
of being a type 1 diabetic.
- All right, you ready, Katie?
Go for it.
You got it.
Come on, Katie.
That's perfect.
- I have been
a competitive rock climber
since I was eight years old.
- You're doing awesome, Katie.
[upbeat music]
- I love getting
to push my limits
and train hard and see what
I'm truly capable of.
[cheers and applause]
I found what I want to do
for the rest of my life.
- Come on, you got it, Katie.
All right.
- My dream would be
to make the
2024 Olympic climbing team.
But in 2017,
I was at a big competition,
and felt super sick.
A couple days later,
I was diagnosed
with type 1 diabetes.
Seeing the look
on my parents' face,
on my doctor's face was
so scary for an 11-year-old.
[soft dramatic music]
- Her first question
to the doctor was,
"When can I climb again?"
I was just thinking about
how to keep her alive,
and she wanted to know
when she would be able
to go to the gym.
- Diabetes has really
affected my life.
I have to wear an insulin pump
and a continuous
glucose monitor.
It's a never-ending battle,
but type 1 didn't end my life.
It just changed it.
- ♪ Oh, we all
get one moment to shine ♪
♪ Ah ♪
♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ Oh ♪
- Being on the show this year
is such a dream come true.
I hope I inspire a little kid
who is afraid to wear
their pump on their arm,
and know that it is okay
to have it visible,
and it doesn't make you weird.
It makes everything that
you do that much more amazing,
and that much more special.
My motto is, I don't need easy,
I just need possible.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ This moment is mine ♪
[cheers and applause]
- And you can see the
insulin pump on one arm,
glucose monitor on the other.
Doesn't slow her down.
She's got her family
on the sidelines
along with some top ninjas,
including her coach,
Austin Gray.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Only 5'2" and 110 pounds,
but she is powerful.
- Good balance.
[cheers and applause]
She always has to be aware
of her glucose levels.
Here's a better look at the pump
and monitor on her triceps.
If her glucose drops too low,
it could affect her balance,
her eyesight.
She could even
lose consciousness.
The insulin helps keep it
at manageable levels.
- This is where she can use
her climbing skills
right here on Shattered Panes.
- Come on. Get it!
- Watch the drop.
You don't have drops like this
in rock climbing.
- But she got
them vice grips though.
- You got it.
- Watch this.
Look at her.
Look at Katie Bone.
That's an easy move.
That's an easy move for her.
- She seems solid.
Well, it's amazing.
She's been an elite
rock climber for a long time,
but when she was nine years old,
she was asked what
her dream was.
She didn't mention the Olympics.
She mentioned
"American Ninja Warrior,"
and here she is
living out that dream.
A little tight there.
- 16 years old. Nice.
- Whoa.
- She was not letting go, Matt.
When she locks on...
I shook her hand earlier, Matt.
She almost crushed my hand.
[cheers and applause]
- Now it's Split Decision.
- She's looking over
at the Minions.
She's... is she going
to go with Despica-Balls?
No, she's going Log Runner.
- Keep running, keep running.
- Stay forward!
- Her motto is,
"I don't need easy.
I just possible."
- Yeah!
- And she's showing
what's possible.
[cheers and applause]
Now on to the Kickboards.
And she's going to muster up
some power for this obstacle.
As we said, only 110 pounds,
one of our lightest competitors,
and these kickboards
each weigh 50 pounds.
- Boom! Just like that!
Big kick right out of the gate!
- Well, she's always up
for a challenge.
She and her family
travel around the country
to climbing competitions
almost every weekend.
- Come on, you got it!
- Got it!
- Nice. Look at that.
Look at how she's just
transferring her body.
It's easy to her.
- Good transfer.
- Come on, Katie.
- Keep breathing,
keep breathing.
- Like you said,
hopes to be in Paris
for the Olympics climbing.
It's a new sport.
We saw it last year, Akbar.
We were there in Tokyo.
Let's see the power here.
- All right, big kick.
- You're good.
Come on, you got it!
- She could probably
hang there for days, Matt.
Oh, yeah.
Nice, big kick.
- Good, good.
- The handle is a little uneven.
- Yeah, all right.
This yoke will start to spin.
It's a spinning yoke,
but she's got it.
- What control.
That's just impressive.
This 16-year-old
looking like a veteran.
- She ain't messing around.
[cheers and applause]
- A 16-year-old rookie
with diabetes,
and she's staring down
the fifth obstacle.
That's impressive.
All: Katie, Katie, Katie!
- But no one has gotten
past Final Frontier tonight.
So we haven't had a finisher,
and only three women have
hit a buzzer all season long.
- Nice! There you go!
- Yeah, come on!
- Just keep hopping.
Keep hopping!
- Hopping, hopping!
- It does come down
to Ninja technique.
This one's a little tricky.
You got to be able to see it
and map your way through here.
All right.
All right, now go
from one ring to the next.
- Yeah, she may need to put
her hands on both handles
for this transfer.
There it is.
- Nice!
- Good move!
- You solve it with authority!
- Oh, that was precarious.
Come on, Katie!
- Oh, she's trying
to fight it and get it.
She's trying to wiggle it.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.
- Watch it.
- Okay!
- Are you kidding me?
- Okay!
- One more move
to bring it home!
- You got it! Come on!
- Katie, come on!
- Come on!
- Look at Bone, look at Bone.
- Well, she might win
a gold medal in 2024,
but right now, she's winning
over the hearts of America.
- [indistinct]
puts her mind to it at 16!
- Are you kidding me?
- How sweet is this at 16?
[cheers and applause]
Are you kidding me?
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall!
- And now 14 and 1/2 feet away
from her first buzzer.
Hey, Katie!
You got this!
- Come on, Katie.
Oh, fingertips.
- She's getting a feel,
she's getting a feel.
- She just needs fingertips
up there and she'll be good.
- You got it, Katie.
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall!
- She gets two more attempts,
but how great would it be
for this rookie to get a buzzer?
- All right.
Look up, see it.
Look up, get it, grab it!
Yes!
- Yes! Yes!
Katie Bone!
Oh, my goodness!
[cheers and applause]
What a moment!
[upbeat music]
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
♪ Whoa ♪
- Yes.
Let it out, let it out.
- Oh, my God.
- Celebrate and let it out.
- I'm getting emotional.
- Come here. Come here.
Don't you have me
up here crying.
Why the tears?
- I've been through so much,
and it's such a proud moment.
- Yeah.
- Now you're out here
as a rookie with diabetes.
You got your buzzer, Katie!
You got your buzzer!
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- She was the first
to conquer Final Frontier
and had the crowd
chanting her name.
At 16, Katie Bone,
a type 1 diabetic,
gets the first buzzer
of the night.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- Your dreams came true,
and I love what you say.
You don't need easy.
You just need possible.
What does it feel like
right now?
- It's such an
unexplainable feeling
to hit my first buzzer.
- I have a feeling we're going
to see you in Paris in 2024,
but we know for sure
we're going to see you in LA!
[cheers and applause]
Katie Bone, go celebrate
with your family, sweetie.
- Thank you so much.
- You are awesome.
- Matt, I am holding back
my tears right now.
- I am too.
- I got chills.
I got tears welling up
in my eyes.
That was such a powerful run.
- And such a powerful message
she has.
- ♪ This moment is mine ♪
- Well, it looks like a ninja
has camped out
on the start line.
What's that about?
And later, he became
a true ninja hero.
- Whoo!
- 5'2" Nate Hansen tries
to amaze us once again
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- Welcome back!
Minutes ago,
Wyoming's Parker Hewes
was one happy camper when
he woke up at the start line.
- Yeah, time to break camp.
You got to run the course.
- The 28-year-old
is an avid outdoorsman,
and he climbed the peaks
of Shattered Panes...
- Okay!
- And hiked across
the Despica-Balls.
- Nice!
- The chiropractor
from Jackson Hole
made all the right adjustments
until he reached Final Frontier.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- The Hawaiian shirt came off,
but the Wyoming doctor
may have gone far enough
to move on.
[cheers and applause]
New Orleans' Kristen Brickner
is a safety officer
at an oil refinery,
so we were extra careful
for her run.
- Wearing this suit
is what's hazardous.
- The Brick, as she's known,
had her family on the sidelines
and co-workers watching
from back at the refinery.
But Brickner ran into trouble
right away.
- Matt, look at her.
She's spinning.
She's breaking bad.
- And the Shrinking Steps were
hazardous to her run.
[Kristen screams]
[air horn blares]
Then Tennessee's Mike Eckert
pulled up to the start line.
- Save some of that for
the course, I'm telling you.
- This staff sergeant
in the Marine Corps reserves
broke the
world record four years ago
for most pull ups
in 60 seconds with 58.
Tonight, the 31-year-old marine
marched though
the first two obstacles
and then decided
to try the Despica-Balls.
- Oh, oh, oh!
He's spinning, Matt!
Kevin got him!
- But he did inspire Akbar
to see how many pull ups
he could do.
One,
two,
three.
- I couldn't hold on anymore.
- They couldn't hold him up.
They said he's too fat.
That's what they just said.
[whistle blows]
All right,
everyone out of the water
because we've had
a shark sighting.
Heading to the start line
is Mark the Shark.
Inside that costume is
35-year-old Mark Antioquia.
- Mark the Shark can dance!
- And that T-Rex can dance too.
That's actually his fiancée
and fellow competitor,
Heather Petty.
They are a fun couple
brought together by Ninja.
[upbeat music]
- We like to scuba dive,
travel the world...
- Whoa.
- And dress up together
in our inflatable costumes.
♪ ♪
- Hi, guys.
- Hi, guys.
High fin, high fin.
- We're kind of an
easy-to-spot couple.
- Hello, miss diver.
[Heather laughs]
When we're in our shark
and T-Rex costumes,
we feel unstoppable.
[laughter]
- People laugh, people smile.
- Do you want a flower?
- I do want a flower.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
- Have a great Friday.
- You too.
- So if you can
do something small
that just makes their day
a little bit better, why not?
- Heather got me
into scuba diving.
And recently,
we went 75 feet underwater
to explore a sunken shipwreck,
and I asked her to be my wife.
- I have to say it probably
took my breath away
for a second, but thankfully,
I had an oxygen tank on.
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
To share so many hobbies
and to be able to compete
together is so magical.
- Mark the Shark is
coming out of the deep
and is ready
to attack that course.
[imitates roar]
[Heather laughs]
- Mark's taken off the suit,
but his friends back
in Massachusetts
are going to keep
the shark attack going.
The crowd here in San Antonio
is also behind him.
All: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- And you can hear it,
that Mark the Shark chant.
- I know sharks
are great swimmers,
but Mark the Shark is not trying
to go swimming on this course.
And you can see Heather's
gonna keep the T-Rex suit on.
That's dedication.
- Well, theirs is
another Ninja love story.
Mark was a science teacher
in New Jersey
when he met Heather
at a Ninja competition.
- Let's go, let's go.
- They dated long distance
for a while,
then he gave up teaching
and moved to be with her
in Massachusetts.
Well, just like a shark,
the secret of Ninja
is keep moving.
- Let's go!
- Oh.
- The Shark had
some good traction there.
- You got it, buddy.
It's right there.
It's right there,
it's right there.
[cheers and applause]
- Babe, you look so good!
- He tells Heather
she looks good.
I think that's what
every T-Rex wants to hear.
- Now he's got the mother
of all Ninja decisions:
Split Decision.
All: Minions! Minions!
- The crowd's chanting Minions.
They want him
to try Despica-Balls.
- The Shark looks hungry.
If I'm a shark,
I'm going with Despica-Balls.
Go ahead, go Despica-Balls.
- A shark versus the Minions.
- Nice, nice.
- The Shark prevails!
- Mark the Shark ate that up.
- And this crowd's
really rooting for this guy.
He's kind of an underdog.
Didn't have much
of a sports background,
discovered Ninja,
feels like this
is his first opportunity
to show his athleticism.
- Only 5'6", not a big guy.
- But he's coming up,
powering his way
through the fourth obstacle.
Watch the transfer here.
- All right, Matt.
Here he goes.
- The Shark is really moving
like a predator
hunting his prey.
That prey is the buzzer.
- You got it. Go.
- He competed once before
four years ago,
fell on the fourth obstacle.
Looking much stronger now.
He'll make a big transfer here.
Oh!
- Oh, buddy!
Oh!
Hold on, hold on!
- Got to get the dismount!
Got through it.
- The Shark got some bite,
and the crowd loves it.
- And Mark Antioquia's
diving right into
the fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
We've never had a Shark
in space until tonight.
- He's put in a lot
of work, Matt.
He trains seven days a week.
- Going for a world record
in muscle-ups,
so we know he's got
that upper-body strength.
- Yeah, Matt, he's going from
planet to planet right now.
He's planet hopping.
Hop, hop, hop.
Nice.
- Well, Ninja literally
changed Mark Antioquia's life.
Led him to his future wife,
changed his career.
Getting a buzzer would be
a great addition to his story.
All: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- Nice!
- One more move here.
- This crowd is about to erupt!
- And look at this!
A Shark made the journey!
[cheers and applause]
all: Mark the Shark!
Mark the Shark!
- It's good to see you guys!
- You definitely are
a ninja shark.
- It's been a long time!
- Here we go.
14 and 1/2 feet away
from his first buzzer.
- Well, Ninja brought him
his fiancée.
Can it bring him to LA?
All: Beat that wall!
Beat that wall! Beat that wall!
- Yes, it does!
[buzzer blares]
- Yeah, baby!
- The Shark gets his buzzer!
- Whoo!
- Unbelievable!
- Mark, you stepped away
from Ninja for a little bit.
What did you do
during your off time?
- I was in the deep,
I was finding
the love of my life
all right here with Ninja.
I'm just out here
living my best life.
- Hey, buddy,
that's the best performance
by a shark
since Katy Perry's
halftime show.
[laughter]
Buddy, you're going to LA!
- Let's go! Yeah!
- He found love,
and he found a ticket to LA.
- Whoo!
- Coming up,
this firefighter lost his leg
but never lost his fire.
The amazing Gary Weiland
is going to run the course
when "American Ninja Warrior"
returns.
- ♪ All around the world ♪
- Welcome back to a special
"American Ninja Warrior"
as we team up with the Minions
and their new movie,
"The Rise of Gru,"
which hits theaters on Friday.
We are about halfway through
tonight's qualifying,
and what a night
it's been so far.
Aspiring actor Chris Adkins
was ready for his closeup.
And besides his family,
he had special guests
watching him...
- Bello.
[speaking Minionese]
- Minions Otto and Stuart.
Action Adkins had
no problem early on...
- [speaking Minionese]
- Hey, hey!
- And with Otto
and Stuart watching,
he knew he had
to try the Despica-Balls.
- Go, go, go!
- The 5'2" Adkins skated through
and reached the fourth obstacle,
but couldn't handle
the Kickboards.
[air horn blares]
- [speaking Minionese]
[Stuart grunting]
Hey, buddies!
[laughs]
- Arkansas teenager Owen Dyer
came out with
his trademark flamingo hat
and some killer flamingo shirts.
- I like this, Matt.
Owen Dyer knows how to win the
hearts of the hosts here, huh?
- When the 17-year-old
reached Split Decision,
he paid tribute to the Minions.
- Uh-oh, what...
What's going on here?
Oh, bananas!
- But he wasn't about
to run across them,
so he went over Log Runner.
- Take the banana.
Don't mess with me.
- Dyer got a buzzer last year
in qualifying as a rookie,
and he was overjoyed
to get another one tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Can I get a picture
with you guys up there?
- Come on over here, man.
- Yeah!
- Boston's Heather Petty
ditched her T-Rex costume
for her shot at the course
with her fiancé, Mark the Shark,
cheering her on.
The 30-year-old
medical researcher
mastered the steps...
- Okay.
- But just like a T-Rex,
her arms were too short
to handle the Shattered Panes.
[air horn blares]
- Thank you guys so much.
- Well, we've had
some amazing individuals
tackle our course
over the years,
and another one is about
to join that list.
This is Texas firefighter
Gary Weiland,
a 42-year-old father of four,
and as you can see,
this man's come a long way
after losing his leg.
[siren wailing]
- I've been a firefighter
for ten years,
but following
a routine knee surgery,
I had some rare complications
that led to my left leg
being amputated in 2018.
[soft dramatic music]
My kids were in the hospital,
and I remember laying in bed.
And the way that they,
all four of them,
were looking at me,
I decided right then and there
that this was not gonna beat me.
- ♪ Whoa-oh-oh ♪
- I got out of bed
and started moving,
and I got physically stronger
and mentally stronger
and thought, "Okay, how can
I get back on a fire truck?"
So I had some very serious
conversations with my chief.
- ♪ I know we set this
all in motion ♪
♪ But we live
to fight another day ♪
- Gary outperformed
all our expectations.
Within six months,
Gary was already asking
can he return back
to full-duty status.
- My first shift back was
the greatest day of my life.
- ♪ It's never too late
for second chances ♪
- I rappel out of buildings,
I climb ladders,
I cut holes in roofs,
I go to car wrecks,
I use the Jaws of Life.
I do all these things
as a firefighter,
and I do it on one leg.
♪ ♪
- I'm so proud of my dad.
He's impacted
so many other people.
My dad has always been my hero,
but now he's a hero
to a lot of other people.
♪ ♪
- After I got back on the job,
I wanted to challenge myself
in other ways,
so I've been doing Ninja
for about two years now.
It challenges my leg,
which helps me on my job,
and I fell in love with it.
[grunts]
Hopefully, I give people hope
that no matter what
you're going through in life,
you can absolutely do anything
you put your mind to.
- ♪ Second chances ♪
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, you can see
he's saying, "Mind blown."
Well, my mind's blown that
he's out here doing this.
- And check out his buddies
back at the firehouse
cheering him on.
- Let's go, Gary.
You got this. Let's go.
- Along with his wife
and family members
watching from home.
Well, just to be here
is a triumph.
And if he can get through
this first obstacle
with that prosthetic leg,
that would truly be
something special.
- Oh, look at that!
Come on, tell me
that's not impressive!
- Whoa, that's amazing!
- Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
Whoo!
- Got a big group
on the sidelines,
including his son, who's
holding a sign that says,
"My dad's an amputee.
What superpower
does yours have?"
- Now, that's big-time
right there.
Tell me that didn't
give you chills.
- Let's go!
- What can he do here?
Can he climb
the Shattered Panes?
What a test this will be.
Come on!
This is a tough obstacle.
Those panels are slick.
Think about the agility
it takes for this.
And he's doing it
with a prosthetic leg!
- Big grip, big grip.
- What are your limitations,
folks?
- Come on, make it.
Nice.
Nice!
- What's your excuse?
Look at Gary Weiland.
- This firefighter is fighting
here on Shattered Panes.
And don't forget he's 42,
one of our older competitors
tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah, saved!
- Come on, come on!
- This guy is cool under fire.
- Gary! Let's go!
- Gary Weiland!
Oh! And he saves it again!
- Matt, this is
courage under fire.
- Are you kidding me?
- And even he's saying,
"Are you kidding me?"
- Yes!
- Gary Weiland
is wiling out right now.
- But Split Decision's
going to be a real test.
Which one of these options
is best with a prosthetic leg?
- He's choosing Log Runner
over Despica-Balls.
- Pointing to his shirt.
The AO stands for
"adapt and overcome,"
and Gary Weiland's
definitely doing that.
- Wow.
- Look at him.
He's high stepping.
This would be incredible.
And the entire crowd
on their feet.
- Hold on, hold on!
Fight, fight, fight!
- Well, he's on the log.
- Matt, I swear on my mama,
if he makes it out of this one,
I'm going to jump out
of this booth.
- You got to reach
your legs back.
- This dude is a fighter, Matt.
If he's wet or dry,
the dude is a fighter, Matt.
- 5'10", probably has the
length to get back there.
And he's doing it.
He is doing it.
- He makes no excuses.
This is what it's all about.
When your back is up against
the wall, what do you do?
You try to figure it out.
- Look at this.
- He says adapt and overcome.
You got to fight now.
- Everything you got.
Dig deep.
- Well, you can see Gary is
giving it everything he's got.
- At 42...
- Oh, and he's getting up!
- He's going to go Superman!
- Get out of there!
Just got to leap it.
- Don't think about it.
Just do it.
- This a guy who chose not
to wallow in self-pity,
but chose to fight.
- Oh!
- And that was one of the
greatest runs we have seen.
- Matt, that was phenomenal.
That was phenomenal.
- Ask yourself what
is holding you back.
When you see Gary Weiland,
you got to rethink it.
- As a firefighter,
Gary saves lives.
And on the course,
it was save after save.
On Log Runner, he made it to
the last log where he slipped,
but he gave it everything he had
and fought to the very end.
- Gary, what message
do you hope to send to your son
based on what
you pulled off here tonight?
- I just hope that he can see
that no matter what happens
to you in life,
you can absolutely
get through it.
You can adapt and overcome,
and make the best
of a really tough situation.
So I hope he learns that.
- Oh, I love it, I love it.
Well, y'all hug it out.
Congratulations
on an amazing run.
Guys, back to you.
[cheers and applause]
- Stick around...
- [babbles]
- 'Cause we've got a sneak
peek at the new Minions movie.
- [screams]
- [cackles]
- Coming up...
- [grunts]
- Hmm?
[screams]
- Whoo-hoo!
- On "American Ninja Warrior."
- [whistling]
- Welcome back to the Alamodome
where we've got big guys
doing big things.
Minutes ago,
32-year-old Ben Evert
came to the start line
wearing his welding mask
and a luscious beard,
a look that's not
easy to pull off.
- You look ridiculous.
[laughter]
- The rookie
from Lubbock, Texas,
looked okay
on the Shrinking Steps,
but on Shattered Panes,
his 174 pounds caught up to him.
- Oh, right on his back.
Check this out again.
Boom!
- Another one of larger ninjas
is break dancing
software engineer Mark Farrell.
- This guy wakes up
with passion.
- What?
- Though he's almost 200 pounds,
the mohawked 39-year-old
from Utah
showed he's got plenty
of muscle.
- Wow.
- Great mobility...
- Ooh!
[Mark shouts]
- And some questionable
fashion choices.
- It's got to be
the jean shorts for sure.
- [shouts] Let's go!
- The rookie made it all the
way to the fifth obstacle
where his over-the-top energy
caused him to overshoot it
on Final Frontier.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
Skinny jeans don't work
in space.
- But the biggest impression
was made by the Big Dog,
6'6" Jody Avila.
The tallest ninja of the night
showed amazing agility.
- Boy, he looks like
a tall Spider-Man.
- And though he struggled on
balance obstacles in the past,
it was no issue tonight.
- You see that?
He's excited about that.
- And despite
weighing 215 pounds,
he defied gravity
on Final Frontier.
- Oh, he's showing off!
He's showing off!
- And the seven-time veteran
became our fourth finisher
of the night.
[cheers and applause]
- Let's go, baby!
- [barks] You know who that was.
- [barks]
- Big Dog right there.
- Well, we need a drumroll
for our next ninja.
This is 17-year-old
Jonathan Godbout.
Just graduated from high school,
and he's the drummer
in a prog rock band
he has with his brother.
- Let me see what you got, Matt.
[drumsticks tapping]
- You know, it's...
It's a little rusty.
- Uh, a little?
- Well,
let's talk about Godbout.
He had a sensational
rookie season,
hit three buzzers,
and made it to stage two.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Let's see what Godbout can
do in his sophomore campaign.
Bop, bop, bop.
Nice beat, nice rhythm.
[cheers and applause]
- So impressive.
He was 16 years old,
hit that qualifying buzzer,
semifinals buzzer,
stage one buzzer.
- Matt, he's really upped
his training for this season.
I mean, some intense workouts
like running four miles
every four hours
for two straight days!
- Ooh, I think
he banged his head there.
Good thing that edge is padded.
- He's been doing
Navy SEAL workouts,
and that's made him tough.
- Let's go!
Keep it going.
- He just wants to get off
this obstacle right now...
and he does.
Oh, and he's feeling it.
- I bet he is,
'cause he caught the left side
of his face right
on the top of that pane.
- Now it's Split Decision.
Looks like
he's going with the Minions.
- Oh, yeah.
I like it.
Just graduated from high school.
Showing he's a grown man now.
Both: Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
- And the Minions
get another victim,
and Godbout was someone
we expected to see in Vegas.
- Oh, man.
I'm in shock.
- And so is Bob.
This just went wrong right
from the start.
He didn't
get his feet high enough,
and he tripped right over
Otto's head.
And Godbout's season is over.
Well, after a disappointment
like that,
we need a superhero
to save the day,
and we've got one.
Coming to the start line
is Flybird, AKA Ernesto Perez,
a landscaper
from the New Orleans area.
We told you his story last year.
He and his close friend
Jude Boynton
make YouTube videos
about superheroes
who are on a mission
to stop bullying.
- It's all over.
- [claps] Good job, Flybird.
- Thanks, man.
- The superhero Flybird
represents people
who are getting bullied
just like me.
- Jude's actually played hero
to me at times
because I've seen videos
of him doing Special Olympics,
and he kept falling down,
but he kept getting back up
as well.
- Don't stop, Jude!
Go through the line!
Let's go!
Let's go, Jude!
Pump it up, boy!
- And it made me realize
that a hero really is
not just those who
can punch really hard,
but those who can
take those hard punches
and keep getting back up.
[upbeat music]
Watch out, Batman and Robin.
There are two new superheroes
in town.
- Together, me and him
are an unstoppable force.
- And as Flybird
is on the course,
Skybird joins us,
and we've been told...
- Hey!
- We can reveal his name.
Jude Boynton in here.
- Hey, what's going on, man?
You excited to be here?
- Oh, yeah. I'm excited.
He's going to hit that buzzer
and get past that
dangerous fifth obstacle.
- Yes. My goodness!
- Yes!
- Well, let's get your buddy
Flybird going on the course.
- Flybird
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Yeah!
- Oh!
- Yeah!
- You're doing it there!
[countdown clock beeping]
Here comes Flybird.
- Oh, look at that!
And he's doing it
with this cape on too.
He's flying.
- Oh, yeah!
He's flying through it.
- But now we've got
this brand-new obstacle,
Shattered Panes.
- Shattered Panes.
It's going to be
a pain to get through.
- [laughs]
- Yes, it is.
- You're awesome, buddy!
He's better at puns than we are!
Ernesto competed
last year in Tacoma,
made it to the fourth obstacle.
- Okay, here we go.
- Let's see how he does
on the transfer.
Can he fly?
- Getting ready to...
- Oh!
- Oh, no!
- I can't believe it, Skybird.
- Flybird has fallen,
but Skybird...
- Oh, man.
- What message
do you want to share
to the other children out there
who maybe feel
that they're alone
or they're being picked on?
What would you tell those kids?
- Hey, make a difference
out there,
and go fight for what's right.
- Yes.
- That is an awesome message,
and I know you and Flybird
are going to continue
to fight bullying.
- You're a awesome superhero,
and guess what?
You're an awesome host.
All right?
- You are.
- Don't come taking our job.
- Stick to being a superhero,
all right, buddy?
- I won't, I won't.
- Earlier tonight,
martial arts instructor
Devon Collins
lit it up outside the Alamodome.
And minutes ago,
he brought the fire inside
to the start line
as he showed off his
flaming samurai swords.
- Is he nuts?
Look at that!
- With his students
and family watching
from back in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama,
the 25-year-old rookie blazed
through the Shrinking Steps.
- Got it, Coach.
- But his hopes
were extinguished
on the Shattered Panes.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
The rotation got him!
- New Orleans' Elijah Levée
tore it up at the start line,
showing why he's known
as the Louisianimal.
Levée and his family rescue
and rehabilitate wild animals.
- Yeah, he trains all
sorts of animals, Matt.
He even taught a raccoon
how to swim.
- [chittering]
- Good job.
- And tonight,
Levée let loose on the course.
And with a wild
cheering section behind him,
he manhandled
the second obstacle.
- Oh, my goodness!
- But the Louisianimal was
no match for the Minions.
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
And he took one to the kisser.
- Those dang Minions!
- Another rookie,
former college basketball star
Liv Hackmann,
came to play.
- Ooh, great handle.
- The former shooting guard
from Southeast Missouri
State University
dominated on the boards.
- Okay!
- Then used her 5'9" frame
to jump past the Log Runner.
- She just dribbled her way
through Log Runner.
- Though she didn't have the
hops to handle Kickboards...
- Oh!
[air horn blares]
- She's still got a shot
to move on,
continuing a string of strong
runs by the women tonight.
Well, here comes another
rookie competitor.
This is 17-year-old
Anabella Heinrichs.
She lives in Colorado,
but she loves the ocean.
And if she's not Ninja training,
you'll find her scuba diving.
[upbeat music]
- I'm a senior in high school.
My day-to-day
is kind of average,
but I've been able to do
some really cool things.
♪ ♪
I've been scuba diving
since I was ten years old.
I've seen, like, massive
manta rays 10 feet wide.
I've seen whale sharks,
which are as long
as a school bus.
When you're scuba diving,
you have to stay just
really calm under pressure.
Like, mental pressure and
also literal water pressure.
That kind of translates
into Ninja
where you just stay calm
no matter what happens.
I love exploring underwater,
but I have no intention
of touching the water tonight.
[water bubbles]
- She got into diving
because her dad's
an underwater filmmaker.
And there he is along with
Anabella's mom and sister.
On the sidelines
with some of the Colorado
ninjas she trains with.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Oh, she coordinated, Matt.
I like the pink hair
and glasses.
- Nice.
5'4", 118 pounds,
ready to take a run
up the Shattered Panes.
Well, she's looking
real confident out here.
Her rookie campaign...
Watch the drop.
- Yeah, dude.
Trust. Come on.
- Come on!
- Confident!
- Come on!
- Trust, trust!
- Ooh.
Has really been working hard
on her upper-body strength,
and it's showing.
I'm just impressed with the
confidence coming out here.
17-year-old rookie
looking solid.
- Nice,
throwing herself on there.
[cheers and applause]
- And she is through.
[cheers and applause]
On now to Split Decision.
Let's see how those sea legs
work on a balance obstacle.
- Uh-oh, I think
she's going to go Minions.
- Is she going Minions?
She's chose the Minions.
No, she's going
for the Log Runner.
- Nice.
Look at that. Ooh!
- Great footwork.
[cheers and applause]
Let's see what kind of power
she has on the Kickboards.
You have to learn how to swim
with a kickboard very often.
- Absolutely, Matt.
- A little different here.
- Pink hair don't care.
She changes her hair color
every month.
She's thinking about
becoming a hairstylist.
- No hesitation in her motion.
Good execution.
- And great adjustment.
You see how she bobbed
her head to the left
to avoid that first
spinning disk?
- Up high! Here we go!
Yes!
- Now she's got to kick.
This next one is... you can see...
The spinning yoke.
- What it's got to be like
for a parent watching your...
Your teenager on this
course doing so well.
Bit of trouble
getting it moving.
- Yeah, she didn't get
that right in the middle,
but she did make the adjustment.
Here we go.
- Got to get those handles,
and yeah, I think that'll work.
- Come on.
- Come on! You got this!
Come on!
- Looking really comfortable
with that upper body, Akbar.
- Ooh! Okay, look at that!
That's perfect form
right there, Matt.
Okay, Anabella!
[cheers and applause]
Anabella Heinrichs made it
all the way to Final Frontier.
- Let's go! Make it 30.
- And she's the
third woman tonight
to reach this fifth obstacle.
Only Katie Bone made it through.
Now another teenage rookie,
Anabella Heinrichs,
looking to do the same.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
- Oh, no.
- The scuba diver goes
for a swim,
but not before lodging
an impressive rookie run.
[cheers and applause]
- The pink-haired teenager
looked impressive,
powering her way through
the first four obstacles.
She just missed on the first
big move on Final Frontier,
but she's got no problems
with the water.
- And Zuri's about
to share some good news.
- You should be very happy
with your run,
because it secured you a place
in the semifinals.
We will see you in Los Angeles.
Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
- Of course.
Guys, back to you.
- Last year, Austin Gray
came up just short
of climbing for $1 million.
Both: No!
- But this veteran's ready
to hold off the teenagers
and win it all this season,
and he's next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Plenty of Minions
in the Alamodome tonight.
College student Erick Zamorano
was wearing the Minion colors
when he hit the course
minutes ago.
But on just the second obstacle,
the course hit back.
- Takes it right on
the bridge of the nose.
- But the 18-year-old recovered
only to take another hard hit
one obstacle later.
- Oh!
Oh, my goodness.
Did the scorpion on that one.
- And he became the second
casualty of the night
on Log Runner.
Kansas dentist Devin Harr
juggles six kids at home,
so juggling toothbrushes
is no problem.
- I'll brush my teeth later.
- With his wife
and one child on the sideline
and the other five
watching back home,
the dentist dad
fought tooth and nail
on one obstacle...
- Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- After another...
- Yeah, just
don't fall in between.
Oh!
- After another.
- Whoo!
- And made it all the way
to Final Frontier.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
Which put a smile on his
and his six kids' faces.
Colorado's Jaelyn Bennett
is a rookie,
but she's been training
with one of the best,
her boyfriend Austin Gray.
Bennett's a 22-year-old
mechanical engineering student,
and she made quick work
of the first few obstacles,
including the Despica-Balls.
- That's how it's done!
- The former gymnast
flew through Kickboards...
- Oh, nice!
[cheers and applause]
- And made it to Final Frontier.
- She's trying
to get to a safe space.
Oh!
[air horn blares]
Despite the fall,
she's safely in the top 30,
continuing a strong night
for our women competitors.
- I'm so proud of you.
I'm so proud of you.
- That was minutes ago.
Now it's Austin's turn.
Zuri, get him started.
- Guys, our next ninja
has been awfully close
to winning $1 million.
Austin Gray has been the
runner-up on "Ninja Warrior"
the past two seasons.
He is definitely one
of the favorites to go
all the way this year.
Only 25 years old,
but he's considered a veteran.
He's one of the guys the other
ninjas really look up to.
- And he's got a lot
of fans here tonight,
but they're his two biggest:
his girlfriend Jaelyn,
who just ran,
and his roommate Nate Hansen,
who runs later.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Let's go! Let's get this!
- Here we go, here we go.
- Austin's so talented
and so generous.
Wears that Share Your Spare
T-shirt
to promote kidney donation.
A few years ago,
he gave one of his kidneys
to his friend Kaylee.
- Nice and easy, Austin.
- She's watching there
with her sister,
and Austin helps spread
that message with every run.
- Another ninja
making a difference.
- Well, like Zuri said, he is
capable of going all the way.
He's got the skills to do it.
And he's through
Shattered Panes.
- Come on, Austin.
- He already told us
he's going to go fast.
He's not even stopping
to look at Despica-Balls.
- Those Despica-Balls
have been diabolical.
- Go through it, go through it.
Oh, nice job.
Right on to the pad.
- Awesome balance.
And you see some of
the ninjas he trains.
Austin Gray has become
a very sought-after coach.
Let's see if the coach
can kick his way
past the Kickboards.
- He is so comfortable
on these obstacles, Matt.
Look at him just kicking it.
[cheers and applause]
- He and Nate Hanson have built
obstacles in their basement,
even a replica of stage three
in Vegas.
- It just shows you
how dedicated those two are
and how hard they work at it.
- Come on, Austin.
Easy!
Easy, come on.
- Nice.
- Just needs the dismount.
- You see how easy it looks
for Austin?
- He's hopping up
to Final Frontier,
and don't look now, but he's
got a shot at the fastest time.
That's currently held
by Owen Dyer
at 3 minutes, 2 seconds.
- Good. Nice.
We like that.
- Yeah, come on!
- Good progress.
- There we go.
Now take that weight and
move it up to the other side.
Nice. Just like that.
- Oh, you can see how it rocks.
- Let's go.
Come on. Keep going.
- You're good, you're good.
Come on.
- You're good, you're good!
- You got this!
- And you can see the challenge
in trying to get
the control stick to move
without rolling out of orbit.
Leaning in on that right side,
nice.
And then get back to center.
- Well, look at what
you can do with one kidney.
- Come on, Austin!
- Come on, Chief.
- Whoo!
Save a life
and complete a course.
- And he's got a shot
at the fastest time.
Will he take it
or go for the Mega Wall?
- Oh, he ain't messing around.
He going for the fastest time.
- And he's going to do it!
[buzzer blares]
[soft dramatic music]
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
- You didn't even look at it.
I thought you might give
it a glance, Austin.
- I gave it a glance.
I thought about it.
- Why not?
[Matt laughs]
How come you didn't do it?
- Man, I've only hit
one qualifying buzzer.
Let's just... I just want
to get it done.
- Last year,
you made it to stage three.
Could this be your year?
- I think this is my year.
- Well, you're off
to a good start.
You've got the fastest time
of the night.
- Whoo!
- Hit that buzzer one more time!
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go!
- What a run!
We got no shortage
of excitement tonight,
but get ready for even
more action with the Minions!
"The Rise of Gru"
in theaters July 1st.
- Here's an exclusive
sneak peek at the film.
- Welcome back to Minions Night
on "American Ninja Warrior."
When Megan Rowe,
the Axe-Throwing Ninja,
hit the start line,
it inspired us to give it a try.
- All right, here we go.
Let me show you how to do this.
- What could go wrong?
- You got to go just like this.
[glass shattering]
- I think you just killed
one of our cameramen.
[Akbar laughs]
Rowe, the three-time veteran,
was a lot smoother
than we were...
- Flip mode!
Come on now.
- Rolling through
the early obstacles.
- She's got great form, Matt.
- The graphic designer
made it to Vegas last season,
so it was a bit of a shock...
both: Oh!
- When she fell on Kickboards.
And she'll have to wait and see
if it's good enough to move on.
Hip hop musician Emmanuel Aouad
got the crowd on its feet.
- ♪ Mind over matter ♪
♪ A machine clank-clank
when I'm going up the ladder ♪
♪ Take a few spills while
you elevate your skills ♪
♪ Ain't for the fame,
it's for the thrills ♪
- As we're laying down some
of his original lyrics,
the 34-year-old
from Plano, Texas,
laid down an impressive run.
- That's my ninja right there.
- He made it all the way
to the fifth obstacle.
- Nice... oh!
[air horn blares]
Too aggressive.
- Despite the fall,
that run was good enough
to earn him a trip
to the semifinals
and a kiss from the wife.
Isaiah Wakeham also had
something to celebrate.
He turned 21 today.
- Guess we should give him
a little toast, huh?
- We had the champagne waiting,
but first, the two-time veteran
had to get through the course.
- He made that look easy.
- The artist and filmmaker was
almost flawless...
- Balling!
- And tried to give himself
a 10-grand birthday present
on the Mega Wall...
- Oh, my gosh!
He could touch it!
- Oh!
But he regrouped
and got his buzzer...
- Let's go!
- And savored
his first glass of champagne.
- Cheers.
Happy birthday, man.
Toast.
[glass dings]
- Well, now it's time
for the other Wakeham,
Isaiah's kid sister, Isabella.
She just graduated
from high school
and is on her way
to Texas A&M this fall.
And if her first year of college
goes like her first year
of Ninja,
she's going to be just fine.
In her rookie campaign
last season,
she was the top woman
in her night of qualifying...
- Ooh! Look at that!
- And semifinals...
Where she made it all the way
to the ninth obstacle...
- Oh, yeah!
- And when she and her brother
both qualified for Vegas...
- You're both headed to Vegas.
[both cheering]
- Their mom followed through
on a promise
and got a tattoo of us.
- That's a really good forearm
right there, Matt.
- Then Isabella had a stellar
performance on stage one,
going farther than any
female rookie in history.
- Oh!
- Leaving the season knowing
that I left my mark
as a rookie and as a female
was phenomenal.
But I know
I can do better this year,
and I'm so excited to show that.
[cheers and applause]
- Isabella's mom and brother
on the sidelines as always.
Now, shockingly, it turns out
those tattoos of us
were just temporary.
But she's still getting
a tattoo, just not of us.
- Oh, man.
- Isabella's dad
and other ninjas
watching back in Houston.
Plus her grandparents are
watching with a Minion friend.
- Who is that? Is that Kevin?
[laughter]
[countdown clock beeping]
- Last year,
Isabella and her brother
made it to the same spot
on the course
in qualifying and semifinals.
- That bodes well for her
'cause we just saw Isaiah
hit a buzzer.
- 5'5" and so strong.
- Watch that tilt,
45-degree tilt.
- And just rock solid.
You can see her anticipating it.
- All right, girl!
- And again, one of the things
I love is she has such focus.
She's been watching the ninjas,
formulating her plan of attack.
- Yeah, that's right...
Oh, she's had a slip!
That's a great recovery
right there.
- Great recovery.
- Matt, that's the way
you got to do it.
Let's look at it again.
Her left foot slipped
as she was making the jump.
Luckily, she was still able
to make the grab.
- Well, the great ones know
something's always going
to go wrong.
It's how you respond to it.
- And that's the sign
of a great athlete
and a great ninja:
making the adjustments
when stuff goes wrong.
[cheers and applause]
all: Minions! Minions! Minions!
- On to Split Decision.
And you know the grandparents
are hoping
for the Despica-Balls,
but she's headed
towards the Log Runner.
A nice smile to her family.
- She told family, "No, I'm
not messing with the Minions.
No Despica-Balls for me."
- Great, great, great, great!
- Right through it.
[cheers and applause]
And the great night
for the women continues.
Right now, 5 are guaranteed
to make the top 30.
Got to get through
Kickboards here.
This obstacle
should be in her wheelhouse.
- Yeah, right there.
Push.
- Ooh.
- Go! Come on!
- The powerful kick,
nice transfer there.
- Good lache.
- I love the wide angle
and the adjustment there.
Good.
- You got it, girl.
Straighten it out.
Fix it, fix it, fix it.
- Started ninja training
eight years ago
when she was ten years old.
Part of this
new generation of ninjas
that grew up on this sport...
They are so good.
I love it
'cause she is so smiling
and sweet off the course,
but you see the focus that
makes her such a good ninja.
And she is through.
And with her time,
she's guaranteed a spot
in the top 30,
but you know she wants a buzzer.
- It's good to see you guys.
- Hey, good to see you!
- Good to see you too!
- You know,
it might be easier to talk
if you get a little closer.
- Okay.
[laughter]
I'll be there in a minute.
- That's what we figured.
Final Frontier, though,
has been a roadblock.
Only six ninjas
have gotten past it.
One of them was her brother.
- This is all you.
Aim high, aim high.
[cheers and applause]
- Katie Bone, another teenager,
the only woman
to make it through.
You see Isabella is really
having to fight
to move that bar.
- Hop it, Bell, hop it.
- Easy, easy, easy.
- There you go.
- Let it swing, Bell.
- Big transfer.
- All right, she's gonna beam
to this other planet.
- Transfer.
- Watch that bar.
You could just... oh no!
[air horn blares]
Sha-na-na!
- She didn't
get the buzzer she wanted,
but still an impressive run
by Isabella Wakeham.
- Belly!
- And her brother's jumping in
to let her know it.
- You're still a badass.
- You got me, bro.
- She looked very strong early,
but like so many others tonight,
couldn't make the moves
on the fifth obstacle.
But we'll still see her
in the semifinals.
- Well, Akbar, we are
on the verge of history.
Right now, there are
a record-breaking
7 women in the top 30.
But whether they stay there
will depend
on our final runners,
one of which
is the little big man,
5'2" Nate Hansen.
Gnarly Nate is
always must-see TV,
and he's next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Some big drama here
in the Alamodome
in these last few minutes.
Six women, the most ever,
have already secured a spot
in the top 30.
They're guaranteed
to move on to the semifinals.
And another woman, Megan Rowe,
could make it seven.
She sat in 28th place
with three runners left.
Minutes ago,
she watched nervously
as teenager Christian Youst
did the course.
The 17-year-old from Dallas
is only 5'4,"
but it didn't stop him
from making big moves
on the course.
[cheers and applause]
- He even tried to become
the shortest ninja ever
to take down the Mega Wall.
Both: Oh!
- But settled
for the regular wall
and celebrated
his very first buzzer.
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go!
Let's go!
Whoo!
- But that run pushed Megan
to 29th with two runners left,
including four-time
veteran Elliott Jolivette.
Now, if he made it
to the fourth obstacle,
that would prevent Megan
from clinching a spot.
Jolivette has made it to the
national finals in the past,
and he looked confident early on
as he lined up
at Split Decision.
- All right,
going through Log Runner.
Oh, no!
[air horn blares]
- And that shocking fall meant
Megan Rowe was assured
a spot in the top 30.
And even bigger history
has been made!
- What?
- 7 women in the top 30
for the first time ever!
- Herstory!
Herstory has been made!
- Well, now there's only
one runner left.
You can see it on his shirt.
He's Gnarly.
This is Gnarly Ninja Nate,
Colorado college student
Nate Hanson.
He's only 5'2",
but in his brief ninja career,
he has become
a huge fan favorite.
[soft dramatic music]
- At the age of 12,
I was diagnosed with
growth hormone deficiency,
and so I had
to take growth hormone
for about four or five years
of my life.
♪ ♪
It didn't work as well
as we thought.
I was supposed to be 5'8",
only ended up being 5'2."
Now I realize that being 5'2"
is one of the biggest benefits
in "Ninja Warrior"
that I could ever
have asked for.
It's easier for me
to fly between things,
all that weight that
I don't have to hold up
makes it really beneficial.
- And he's going to set
a new fastest time!
- You always bet
on the Gnarly Ninja!
- Turns out there's
a lot of smaller ninjas
like me out there.
- Come on.
Yes.
Yes, good.
- After my first season,
I got a lot of messages
from people wanting me to
come out and teach Ninja camps
or speak to their
Ninja students,
and really just influence them
in a positive way.
We may be small,
but are we strong?
- Yep.
- And if we fall down,
what do we do?
- We always get back up.
- Growing up as a kid,
I watched the show,
and I looked up
to all the superstars.
And it's crazy that now I get
to share my story with kids
and make sure that they know
that nothing's impossible.
- Nothing is going
to stop Gnarly Nate
from getting that buzzer!
[buzzer blares]
- It's a miracle that
I am where I am today.
Whoo!
This is only the beginning,
and I'm ready
to inspire thousands more.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, Nate's going to
have folks cheering him on
from all over the country,
including his mom
and three brothers.
Down on the sideline,
his roommate Austin Gray
along with other ninjas
he trains with in Colorado.
[countdown clock beeping]
And this dude is intense.
Always goes
with his pedal to the metal.
- Yeah, that's right, Matt.
He's got... he's got a new look
for this season, Matt.
Grown out his beard,
got some new ink.
- And you can just see...
What I love about him,
he's a business student.
He always has a plan,
a plan of attack.
- Yeah!
- And he's been great
at executing.
Made it to Vegas last year.
- Matt, he's not just
an inspirational story.
He has made himself
an elite ninja.
- Boy, he just looks
locked in, Akbar.
He's anticipating all the moves,
going right to Log Runner.
- Yeah, he wastes no time, Matt.
Great balance.
Look at him go, look at him go.
He is really so efficient,
and it looks like he's going
for the fastest time.
- Well, that's currently held
by his roommate, Austin Gray.
You know that adds
some extra motivation.
He would love to have bragging
rights over his buddy.
- So many people
doubted him growing up, Matt.
- And he uses that
to motivate him,
and this guy works so hard
to be this good.
Didn't get a chance
to twist those handles.
Got to reach out.
Got it.
Look at this.
- Matt, that man
is on a mission.
[cheers and applause]
- Not even breathing hard,
Akbar.
- Come on, dude. Come on.
- Breathe!
Heart rate down and breathe.
You got this.
- Go Nate!
- Austin Gray and everyone
else in the building
cheering him on,
but he's got to get through
this difficult fifth obstacle,
Final Frontier.
The clock slowly ticking away,
but he has to be careful.
Got to make small hops
so he doesn't swing off.
- Keep doing that!
- Got to make a big move.
- Keep that up.
- Nice.
- Good move!
- Whoo-hoo!
Sounded like Gnarly just landed.
- And you can see
how precarious these get.
Both hands on the inside.
[cheers and applause]
But now he's in there
between Earth and Mars.
He's going to launch back
to space station.
That's home.
- All right. Park it.
Park it right there.
Do not let gravity win.
- Got it!
- Nice!
- Just needs the dismount.
- It's got to be the beard,
it's got to be the beard!
- Now just needs the wall,
and he can do it.
And gets that buzzer!
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go! Whoo!
- The fastest time of the night!
[cheers and applause]
- ♪ Got it down,
'cause it's going down ♪
[Matt laughs]
- Whoo!
- Nate, you know there
are a lot of kids out there,
some who maybe
get picked on for their size.
What would you tell them?
- You know, I grew up
in a middle school
and high school
getting bullied all the time,
and "Ninja Warrior"
really helped me
find who I was as a person.
So find something that you
truly are passionate about,
and you can really
find your identity
and then spread the love and
the passion with other people.
And that's what I'm doing here.
- Oh, spreading the love.
Yes, you are, man.
- Hey, man, we are proud
to watch you, Nate.
We'll see you in LA.
- Thank you very much.
I love you guys.
[chuckles]
- So Nate Hansen lands
atop our final leaderboard,
just a few seconds ahead
of his roommate, Austin Gray.
We had eight finishers in all,
including 16-year-old
Katie Bone,
the night's only woman
to hit a buzzer.
Among the non-finishers
moving on are the Flyboy,
the 16-year-old from Texas,
Isaiah Thomas.
In all, there are 30 competitors
who are advancing
to the semifinals.
We'll see all of them
in a few weeks
in Los Angeles
at Universal Studios.
That includes this
record-setting group
of seven women who
made the top 30,
the most we've ever had.
- And we have
to say a huge thanks
to the Minions
for being here tonight.
- And be sure
to get your tickets
to go see
"Minions: The Rise of Gru"
in theaters July 1st.
- Well, that does it
for tonight.
For Akbar Gbajabiamila
and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next time
on "American Ninja Warrior."
[cheers and applause]
[dramatic music]