The ninth season of American Ninja Warrior premiered on June 12, 2017 on NBC. Hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila returned for their respective eighth and fifth seasons, alongside sideline reporter Kristine Leahy who returned for her third season. In addition prior to the ninth-season premiere, NBC aired a special ANW Celebrity, Red Nose Day edition featuring nine celebrities, each coached by nine elite ninjas on May 25 before airing USA vs. The World III on June 4.
This year for the first time, the top five women in each city qualifying course qualified for the city finals course, and the top two women in each city finals qualify for national finals, regardless of their placement overall. Beginning in Season 9, wildcard invitations will no longer be allowed for the National Finals in Vegas as only competitors who finish their city finals or those in the Top 15 (men) or Top 2 (women) by the end of the night will advance. Also, the show introduces ANW Obstacle Design Challenge, where from over 2500 fan-submitted obstacles, seven chosen obstacles are introduced in the show.
Competition schedule
Qualifying airing Finals airing City Qualifying date Finals date Venue June 12, 2017 July 24, 2017 Los Angeles, California March 7, 2017 March 8, 2017 Universal Studios Hollywood June 19, 2017 July 31, 2017 San Antonio, Texas March 26, 2017 March 27, 2017 Bexar County Courthouse June 26, 2017 August 7, 2017 Daytona Beach, Florida April 7, 2017 April 8, 2017 Daytona International Speedway July 3, 2017 August 21, 2017 Kansas City, Missouri April 24, 2017 April 25, 2017 Union Station July 10, 2017 August 14, 2017 Cleveland, Ohio May 8, 2017 May 9, 2017 Public Square July 17, 2017 August 28, 2017 Denver, Colorado May 23, 2017 May 24, 2017 Civic Center Park
Obstacles City Qualifying & Finals Indicates obstacles created by fans for the "American Ninja Warrior Obstacle Design Challenge".
Event Obstacle(s)Finishers Los Angeles Qualifying Floating Steps Cannonball Drop Fly Wheels Block Run Battering Ram Warped Wall N/A22 Finals Salmon Ladder Swinging Peg Board Stair Hopper Elevator Climb4 San Antonio Qualifying Tic Toc Spinning Bridge Sky Hooks Pipe Fitter N/A16 Finals Salmon Ladder Hourglass Drop Spinball Wizard Elevator Climb1 Daytona Beach Qualifying Rolling Pin Wingnuts Broken Bridge Rolling Thunder N/A18 Finals Salmon Ladder Giant Cubes Circuit Board Elevator Climb1 Kansas City Qualifying Hang Glider Broken Pipes Crank It Up Bar Hop N/A10 Finals Salmon Ladder Floating Monkey Bars Iron Maiden Elevator Climb0 Cleveland Qualifying Rolling Log Razor's Edge Ring Jump I-Beam Gap N/A14 Finals Salmon Ladder Nail Clipper The Clacker Elevator Climb2 Denver Qualifying Ring Swing Bouncing Spider Paddle Boards Rail Runner N/A8 Finals Salmon Ladder The Wedge Ninjago Roll Elevator Climb1
National Finals EventObstacle(s) Finishers Stage 1 Snake Run Propeller Bar Double Dipper Jumping Spider Parkour Run Warped Wall Domino Pipes Flying Squirrel41 Stage 2 Giant Ring Swing Criss Cross Salmon Ladder Wave Runner Swing Surfer Wingnut Alley Wall Flip N/A3 Stage 3 Floating Boards Keylock Hang Nail Clipper Ultimate Cliffhanger Curved Body Peg Cloud Time Bomb Flying Bar0 Stage 4 Rope ClimbN/A
City courses Los Angeles Qualifying The Los Angeles Qualifying featured two new obstacles, Cannonball Drop and Battering Ram. The night concluded with 22 finishers. Grant McCartney earned the "POM Wonderful Run of the Night" with the fastest time (1:26.37). Other finishers include Adam Rayl and Kevin Bull.
+ order Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Grant McCartney 1:26.37 Finished (POM Wonderful Run of the Night) 2 Adam Rayl 1:29.79 Finished 3 Kevin Bull 1:33.57 Finished 4 Flip Rodriguez 1:58.28 Finished 5 Brian Wilczewski 1:59.15 Finished 6 Sean Bryan 1:59.47 Finished 7 Ryan Robinson 2:02.56 Finished 8 Nick Hanson 2:07.82 Finished 9 Gabe Hurtado 2:09.93 Finished 10 Anthony Trucks 2:20.76 Finished 11 Brent Bundy 2:26.47 Finished 12 Robin Pietschmann 2:29.81 Finished 13 Jackson Meyer 2:31.24 Finished 14 Kapu Gaison 2:37.24 Finished 15 Josh Levin 2:49.62 Finished 16 Riles Nganga 3:02.85 Finished 17 Westley Silvestri 3:09.86 Finished 18 Charlie Andrews 3:19.89 Finished 19 Benjamin Humphrys 3:21.46 Finished 20 Sander Odish 3:25.55 Finished 21 Anton Reichel 3:29.09 Finished 22 Steve Seiver 3:46.62 Finished 23 Daniel Moreno 2:38.19 Failed on Warped Wall 24 Zhanique Lovett 3:10.59 Failed on Warped Wall 25 Tyler Vogt 3:48.15 Failed on Warped Wall 26 Alan Connealy 0:41.10 Failed on Battering Ram 27 David Campbell 0:51.93 Failed on Battering Ram 28 Scott Willson 0:55.92 Failed on Battering Ram 29 K.C. Halik 1:33.18 Failed on Battering Ram 30 Tiana Webberley 1:35.04 Failed on Battering Ram
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Zhanique Lovett 3:10.59 Failed on Warped Wall 2 Tiana Webberley 1:35.04 Failed on Battering Ram 3 April Steiner Bennett 1:43.51 Failed on Battering Ram 4 Rebekah Bonilla 2:05.65 Failed on Battering Ram 5 Natalie Duran 2:20.17 Failed on Battering Ram
Finals
The Los Angeles Finals featured two new obstacles, Swinging Peg Board and Elevator Climb. The round concluded with four finishers. The "Papal Ninja" Sean Bryan just edged out concrete worker Adam Rayl (5:07.92) to earn the fastest finish of the night with a time of 5:07.22. Grant McCartney was eliminated after failing the Salmon Ladder, and David Campbell advanced.
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Sean Bryan 5:07.22 Finished 2 Adam Rayl 5:07.92 Finished 3 Charlie Andrews 6:02.21 Finished (POM Wonderful Run of the Night) 4 Josh Levin 6:27.98 Finished 5 Flip Rodriguez 4:49.73 Failed on Elevator Climb 6 Gabe Hurtado 5:50.71 Failed on Elevator Climb 7 Brian Wilczewski 2:31.21 Failed on Stair Hopper 8 Kevin Bull 3:02.40 Failed on Stair Hopper 9 Robin Pietschmann 4:23.90 Failed on Stair Hopper 10 Jackson Meyer 5:03.54 Failed on Stair Hopper 11 Kapu Gaison 3:03.15 Failed on Swinging Peg Board 12 Steve Seiver 3:10.34 Failed on Swinging Peg Board 13 Benjamin Humphrys 3:15.66 Failed on Swinging Peg Board 14 Nick Hanson 3:22.56 Failed on Swinging Peg Board 15 David Campbell 3:29.48 Failed on Swinging Peg Board
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Rebekah Bonilla 5:26.32 Failed on Swinging Peg Board 2 Zhanique Lovett 3:14.80 Failed on Warped Wall
San Antonio
Qualifying
The San Antonio Qualifying featured two new or modified obstacles (Spinning Bridge (modified) and Sky Hooks (new)) and concluded with 16 finishers. Both ANW veteran Brent Steffensen and former Olympic gymnast Jonathan Horton returned to full form by completing the course and moving onto the next round. ANW trainer Daniel Gil earned the "POM Wonderful Run of the Night" with the fastest time (1:43.24). Also, IndyCar racer Conor Daly competed, but failed on the first obstacle. The first woman up the Warped Wall, Kacy Catanzaro, failed the Sky Hooks when the ring slipped off the hook while she was attempting to make a transition, but she placed in the women's top 5 and moved on to the finals.
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Daniel Gil 1:43.24 Finished (POM Wonderful Run of the Night) 2 Thomas Stillings 1:45.76 Finished 3 Josh Salinas 2:10.29 Finished 4 Brian Burkhardt 2:20.61 Finished 5 Karsten Williams 2:23.29 Finished 6 Nicholas Coolridge 2:43.21 Finished 7 Kevin Klein 2:55.51 Finished 8 Grant Clinton 2:56.63 Finished 9 Jody Avila 3:02.59 Finished 10 Andrew Lowes 3:10.98 Finished 11 Brent Steffensen 3:20.38 Finished 12 Victor Juarez 3:28.68 Finished 13 Abel Gonzalez 4:12.63 Finished 14 Jonathan Horton 4:27.28 Finished 15 Tanr Ross 4:35.91 Finished 16 Jonathan Parr 4:39.09 Finished 17 Will Smithee 1:31.49 Failed on Pipefitter 18 Kye Ackel 1:32.05 Failed on Pipefitter 19 David Yarter 1:34.29 Failed on Pipefitter 20 Cass Clawson 1:42.71 Failed on Pipefitter 21 Kenny Niemitalo 1:43.57 Failed on Pipefitter 22 Nate Burkhalter 1:47.51 Failed on Pipefitter 23 Blake Devine 1:47.79 Failed on Pipefitter 24 Brandon Pannell 1:50.86 Failed on Pipefitter 25 Matt Holt 1:50.90 Failed on Pipefitter 26 Damir Okanovic 1:52.29 Failed on Pipefitter 27 Tremayne Dortch 2:01.47 Failed on Pipefitter 28 Sam Ballard 2:13.90 Failed on Pipefitter 29 Jared Bandy 2:28.24 Failed on Pipefitter 30 Barclay Stockett 3:29.71 Failed on Pipefitter
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Barclay Stockett 3:29.71 Failed on Pipefitter 2 Kacy Catanzaro 1:52.88 Failed on Sky Hooks 3 Sherrie Laureano 1:14.24 Failed on Spinning Bridge 4 Kaiti Haymaker 1:20.76 Failed on Spinning Bridge 5 Brittany Hanks 0:16.65 Failed on Tic Toc
Finals
The San Antonio Finals featured a new obstacle, Spinball Wizard. The round concluded with only one finisher. Daniel Gil completed the course on the final run with a time of 5:50.65, saving San Antonio from having no finishers, and earned the POM Wonderful Run of the Night, knocking Nate Burkhalter out of the top 15. Also, Kacy Catanzaro did make it past the Sky Hooks, the obstacle she failed on in qualifying, and made it to the Warped Wall, but was unable to make it up the 14.5 foot version. However, she placed in the women's top 2 and moved on to the National Finals.
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Daniel Gil 5:50.65 Finished (POM Wonderful Run of the Night) 2 Thomas Stillings 4:29.25 Failed on Elevator Climb 3 Nicholas Coolridge 5:07.15 Failed on Elevator Climb 4 Brent Steffensen 5:12.38 Failed on Elevator Climb 5 Karsten Williams 2:39.43 Failed on Spinball Wizard 6 Andrew Lowes 3:54.62 Failed on Spinball Wizard 7 Josh Salinas 2:29.64 Failed on Hourglass Drop 8 Brian Burkhardt 2:55.84 Failed on Hourglass Drop 9 Damir Okanovic 3:02.90 Failed on Hourglass Drop 10 Matt Holt 3:19.13 Failed on Hourglass Drop 11 Grant Clinton 3:25.56 Failed on Hourglass Drop 12 Abel Gonzalez 3:25.98 Failed on Hourglass Drop 13 Brandon Pannell 3:29.05 Failed on Hourglass Drop 14 Cass Clawson 3:31.83 Failed on Hourglass Drop 15 Jody Avila 3:32.66 Failed on Hourglass Drop
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Barclay Stockett 5:43.62 Failed on Hourglass Drop 2 Kacy Catanzaro 4:18.32 Failed on Warped Wall
Daytona Beach Qualifying The Daytona Beach Qualifying had two new obstacles, one designed by tennis instructor and walk-on competitor Kevin Carbone. He won the ANW Obstacle Design Contest and made it through his own Wingnuts obstacle. The other new obstacle was the Rolling Pin. Gym owner Drew Drechsel earned the "POM Wonderful Run of the Night" with the fastest time (1:10.49). Stuntwoman Jessie Graff finished 26th overall and 1st among the women competitors. Also, NASCAR driver Ben Kennedy competed, but failed on the second obstacle.
+ Rank Competitor Time Furthest Obstacle 1 Drew Drechsel 1:10.49 Finished (POM Wonderful Run of the Night) 2 Travis Rosen 1:47.14 Finished 3 Tyler Gillett 2:17.23 Finished 4 Casidy Marks 2:26.80 Finished 5 Tukrong Klengdong 2:30.91 Finished 6 JJ Woods 2:35.07 Finished 7 Brett Sims 2:46.04 Finished 8 Reko Rivera 2:52.38 Finished 9 Ryan Stratis 2:55.19 Finished 10 Lucas Gomes 3:00.21 Finished 11 Sean Darling-Hammond 3:05.77 Finished 12 Nick Patel 3:06.38 Finished 13 Kevin Carbone 3:07.73 Finished 14 Rigel Henry 3:10.73 Finished 15 Alexio Gomes 3:15.04 Finished 16 Dustin Fishman 3:55.24 Finished 17 Michael Johnson 3:56.91 Finished 18 Eddy Stewart 4:16.18 Finished 19 Les Bradley 1:10.57 Failed on Rolling Thunder 20 Michael Murdick 1:27.26 Failed on Rolling Thunder 21 Steven Cen 1:32.99 Failed on Rolling Thunder 22 Bootie Cothran 1:35.58 Failed on Rolling Thunder 23 Faris Xero 1:36.00 Failed on Rolling Thunder 24 Cedric Idudu 1:43.45 Failed on Rolling Thunder 25 Oscar Ramirez 1:45.89 Failed on Rolling Thunder 26 Jessie Graff 1:46.80 Failed on Rolling Thunder 27 Ricky Vu 2:01.47 Failed on Rolling Thunder 28 Josh Butler 2:13.90 Failed on Rolling Thunder 29 Royall Eason 2:28.24 Failed on Rolling Thunder 30 Jonathan Lorch 3:29.71 Failed on Rolling Thunder