Kacy Catanzaro, a former NCAA gymnast, became the first woman to complete the American Ninja Warrior finals course in Dallas on Wednesday, and will be the first woman ever to compete in the national finals.
Catanzaro stunned viewers when, at just 5 feet tall, she made her way past all physical obstacles in the final course – something previously considered impossible for women – clocking in at just under 9 minutes.
Hosted by former NFL player Akbar Gbaja Biamila and Jenn Brown, American Ninja Warrior is a competition series that tests the abilities of top athletes with “the world’s most difficult obstacle courses.” With her Dallas domination, Catanzaro is now headed to the national finals round in Las Vegas and will attempt to complete the Mt. Midoriyama course.
Catanzaro made history as the first woman to ever attempt the Dallas finals obstacle course, let alone finish it, and is now the first female to ever qualify for the national finals in Las Vegas.
The studio crowd cheered Catanzaro on as she completed the course, and the video of Catanzaro at the Dallas finals quickly went viral – it has been viewed over 3 million times on YouTube.
Catanzaro, 24, is a Towson University graduate and was named the NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year in 2012. Catanzaro always wanted to be on American Ninja Warrior, and instead of letting the fact that no woman had ever made it to the finals intimidate her, she used it as motivation.
“[Just] the fact that no woman has done it, it makes it feel unreachable to some women. You know, like, ‘oh, no woman’s ever done it so obviously I can’t do it.’ Instead of thinking, no woman’s ever done it, ‘I want to be the one to do it,’ which is the attitude that I took,” Catanzaro told Vulture.
Catanzaro was a rookie in the competition last year, but failed to make it very far. This past year, Catanzaro has been training diligently to make it to the American Ninja Warrior finals with her coach and boyfriend Brent Steffensen, who is also a Ninja Warrior athlete.
With Steffensen’s help, Catanzaro revealed that she has focused her training on being “as light and lean and strong as possible for the course” instead of trying to rival her male competitors in muscle mass.
After American Ninja Warrior aired her epic run on Monday, Catanzaro took to Instagram to thank all of her fans and encourage them. “Don’t ever give up on your dreams… accomplishing your goals is a feeling I can’t explain,” she wrote.
She also took the time to thank Steffensen for all of his hard work, posting a photo of the two of them kissing at the top of the tower after her final obstacle, the spider climb.
“Having this wonderful man [Brent Steffensen] give me a big kiss at the top of the tower was the perfect ending to my run! I can’t even describe this feeling right now! All I can do is enjoy this moment and be happy! Thank you for all of the love and support from everyone,” Catanzaro wrote.
Steffensen congratulated his girlfriend on his own Instagram profile, posting a series of photos from the episode and writing, “I’m beyond #proud of my girl [Kacy Catanzaro} for training so hard to make it this far!! Congratulations babe! You’re an #inspiration to us all.”
My #WomanCrushWednesday @KacyCatanzaro #MightyKacy #Unstoppable #WonderWoman #AmericanNinjaWarrior #AlphaWarrior pic.twitter.com/wGOKl2h4xb
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