The sixteenth season of American Ninja Warrior premiered on June 3, 2024, on NBC. A spin-off from the Japanese reality series Sasuke, it is hosted by Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, and Zuri Hall.
For the first time ever, a competitor became the first two-time grand prize winner and consecutively in Vance Walker, who became the first ninja to achieve "Total Victory" twice. In the same season, Caleb Bergstrom became the sixth recorded ninja to achieve total victory, but completed the rope climb just over a second slower than Walker.
The season was officially announced by NBC in late March 2023, though the applications were being accepted from November 19, 2022, until December 16, 2022. The full list of competitors was published on March 15, 2023. Filming for qualifiers moved to Los Angeles, California, where the semifinals remained. Filming for national finals remained in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Filming for the season began on March 15, 2023, and wrapped in early May 2023.
Obstacles Qualifying Like in season 15, the qualifying course starts with the Pole Vault and ends with the Warped Wall, with an attempt at the 18.5-foot Mega Wall available for anyone who finishes the course in under 1 minute and 20 seconds; the instant reward for successfully completing the Mega Wall, once again sponsored by Wells Fargo, was doubled to $20,000 this season. The Runoffs also returned; like in the previous season, the bottom two male contestants and two female contestants on the leaderboard (12th and 13th places) would race side-by-side on the four-obstacle course with the winners earning the last spot in the semifinals.
Denotes obstacles created by fans for the Obstacle Design Challenge.
EventObstaclesFinish under 1:20Course 1Pole VaultReel to ReelDangerous WatersDuck Duck GooseJawbreakersWarped WallMega WallCourse 2Double TwisterRing the BellsCourse 3Ring ChaserSpinning BridgeHeavy MetalThe CubesCourse 4Reel to ReelJawbreakersCourse 5Ring ChaserThe CubesCourse 6Reel to ReelJawbreakersCourse 7Dangerous WatersDuck Duck GooseCourse 8Double TwisterRing the Bells
Runoffs EventObstaclesCourse 1Home RunSpring ForwardWingnutsHopscotchCourse 2Course 3Flying Shelf GrabSidewaysCourse 4Course 5Course 6Course 7Spring ForwardHopscotchCourse 8
Semifinals EventObstaclesCourse 1Home RunFlying Shelf GrabWingnutsSidewaysSpin HopperRope ClimbCourse 2Course 3Spring ForwardHopscotchCourse 4
National Finals Stage Obstacles Time Limit Stage 1 Slide Surfer Barrel Roll Giant Rollercoaster Jumping Spider The Gambler Warped Wall Dipping Birds Thread the Needle Cargo Net 2:10 Stage 2 Striding Steps Double Salmon Ladder Jawbreakers Swing Surfer Epic Air Surfer Falling Shelves 4:00 Stage 3 Patriot Pass Stalactites Slam Dunk Ultimate Cliffhanger Pizza Party Pressure Cooker Road Signs5:00 Stage 4Shrinking StepsUltimate Shelf GrabDouble DipperHeavy MetalJumping SpiderWarped WallWall LiftThe High RoadDouble Ladder
Qualifying The eight qualifiers, divided into five nights, took place on the lot of Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. Like Season 15, the number of semifinalists remained at 16, and men and women have completely separate leaderboards. The top 11 men and top 3 women advance to the semifinals immediately, while the next two men (12th/13th place) and the next two women (4th/5th place) compete head-to-head in "The Runoffs" for the final spots. Denotes expanded course (Mega Wall) finishes Denotes runoff winners who advanced to semifinals Denotes rookie contestants
Course 1
Three new obstacles were introduced in the qualifying course: Reel to Reel, Dangerous Waters, and Duck Duck Goose (an Obstacle Design Challenge creation).
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Jonah Brown01:15.16Finished2Daniel Gil01:17.16Finished3Isaiah Thomas01:19.60Finished4Jody Avila01:34.14Finished5Grant Kiningham01:48.13Finished6Kyle Schulze01:55.97Finished7Jonah Maningo01:04.21Jawbreakers8Anthony Porter01:11.29Jawbreakers9Jesus Capote01:22.22Jawbreakers10Dillon Ruble01:30.84Jawbreakers11Sam Folsom00:15.02Duck Duck Goose12Caiden Madzelan00:18.99Duck Duck Goose13Jonas Harmer00:48.05Duck Duck Goose
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Isabella Wakeham02:19.59Finished2Madelyn Madaras01:47.35Jawbreakers3Karen Wiltin01:24.42Duck Duck Goose4Liv HackmannDuck Duck Goose5Ixchel ValentinoDangerous Waters
Course 2
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Caleb Bergstrom01:05.17Finished + Mega Wall2Nacssa Garemore01:15.12Finished3Flip Rodriguez01:18.14Finished4Owen Dyer01:25.80Finished5Alex Nye01:56.30Finished6Benjamin Drake02:07.16Finished7Lance Pekus01:03.70Ring the Bells8Kyle McCreight01:06.83Ring the Bells9Branden McWilliams01:08.21Ring the Bells10Steven Cen01:24.64Ring the Bells11Lenny Lopez01:29.07Ring the Bells12Elijah Browning00:20.57Duck Duck Goose13Roberto Garemore00:21.83Duck Duck Goose
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Anna McArthur01:35.66Ring the Bells2Jenn Sanders02:21.08Ring the Bells3Zhanique Lovett00:44.33Duck Duck Goose4Lisa Hair01:12.69Duck Duck Goose5Nikki ZinkDuck Duck Goose
Course 3
This course introduced one new obstacle, Heavy Metal.
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Levi Enright01:11.75Finished2Kaden Lebsack01:20.30Finished3Chris Behrends01:28.68Finished4Ben Behrends02:08.51Finished5Cam Baumgartner02:11.63Finished6Max Feinberg02:13.12Finished7Nathan Green02:40.85Finished8Scott Behrends01:00.84The Cubes9Glenn Albright01:16.85The Cubes10Eric Middleton01:19.70The Cubes11Marquez Green01:27.22The Cubes12Seth Lambert00:27.61Heavy Metal13Tyler Yamauchi00:31.97Heavy Metal
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Emily Keener01:16.74The Cubes2Mady Howard01:39.16The Cubes3Annabella Heinrichs00:51.11Heavy Metal4Violet Kepo'o00:37.50Spinning Bridge5Rysann ClarkSpinning Bridge
Course 4
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Matt Bradley01:00.16Finished2Noah Meunier01:04.81Finished3Jay Lewis01:05.22Finished4Sean Bryan01:07.36Finished5Ramcis Valdez01:23.48Finished6Jacob Arnstein01:31.26Finished7Najee Richardson01:34.83Finished8Noah Buschur01:50.25Finished9Brandon Singletary02:06.17Finished10David Campbell00:50.61Jawbreakers11John Uga01:07.95Jawbreakers12Ben Kooper01:28.45Jawbreakers13Guang Cui01:50.05Jawbreakers
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Casey RothschildHeavy Metal2Taylor JohnsonHeavy Metal3Addy HermanHeavy Metal4Elly HartSpinning Bridge5Jojo GrubesicSpinning Bridge
Course 5
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Kai Beckstrand01:06.03Finished + Mega Wall2Jackson Twait01:19.67Finished3Austin Gray01:29.89Finished4Donovan Metoyer01:52.34Finished5Luke Beckstrand02:11.38Finished6Mike Silenzi02:31.11Finished7David Tomassoni02:58.99Finished8Ethan Gardulski03:09.60Finished9Drew Nester03:11.76Finished10Colton Skuster00:50.22The Cubes11Barry Boyd01:08.66The Cubes12Branden Varner01:25.04The Cubes13Jesse Maurer01:58.26The Cubes
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Taylor Greene02:56.34Finished2Riley Porter01:30.12The Cubes3Jaelyn Bennett01:47.87The Cubes4Judith CarrollThe Cubes5Holly BeckstrandThe Cubes
Course 6
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Josiah Pippel01:02.15Finished2Joe Moravsky01:06.53Finished3Kevin Rodriguez01:07.51Finished4James Sannella01:15.78Finished5Joe Meissner01:18.15Finished6Xavier Dantzler01:34.07Finished7James McGrath03:22.27Finished8Gavin Obey00:38.37Jawbreakers9Verdale Benson00:40.58Jawbreakers10David Fleming01:03.19Jawbreakers11Jamie Rahn01:05.49Jawbreakers12Vincent Pane01:14.52Jawbreakers13Jesse Orenshein02:04.14Jawbreakers
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Abby Clark02:57.47Finished2Brittney Durant00:34.71Heavy Metal3Emily Gardiner00:51.58Heavy Metal4Sydney Yee00:52.11Heavy Metal5Sasha MooreHeavy Metal
Course 7
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Vance Walker01:21.83Finished2Kyle Soderman01:23.42Finished3Karsten Williams01:38.44Finished4Josh Miller01:46.64Finished5Josh Salinas00:40.33Jawbreakers6Karson Voiles01:14.72Jawbreakers7John Mack00:20.96Duck Duck Goose8Nick Hanson00:38.37Duck Duck Goose9Francisco Barajas00:27.49Duck Duck Goose10Brigham Youngstrom00:27.83Duck Duck Goose11Arnold Hernandez00:38.54Duck Duck Goose12Ricky Vu00:46.32Duck Duck Goose13Michael EckertDuck Duck Goose
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Karen PottsJawbreakers2Chynna HartDuck Duck Goose3Megan JohnsonDuck Duck Goose4Rachel BrownDuck Duck Goose5Ally Tippetts WootonDangerous Waters
Course 8
+Top 13 MenRankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Enzo DeFerrari Wilson01:10.24Finished2David Bergstrom-Wright01:17.79Finished3Conor Galvin01:47.35Finished4Julius Ferguson00:38.59Ring the Bells5Vinnie Castranova00:45.73Ring the Bells6R.J. Roman00:46.78Ring the Bells7Bob Reese00:46.92Ring the Bells8Josiah Singleton00:59.65Ring the Bells9Jeff Loftus01:07.82Ring the Bells10Ryan Stratis01:26.06Ring the Bells11Jay Flores01:27.44Ring the Bells12Cal Plohoros00:26.37Duck Duck Goose13Josh Wagg00:29.82Duck Duck Goose
+RankCompetitorTimeFurthest Obstacle1Jessie Graff02:42:03Finished2Jaleesa HimkaRing the Bells3Megan BudwayDangerous Waters4Caitlyn Bergstrom-WrightDangerous Waters5Emma PereyraDangerous Waters
Semifinals + Rounds formed Semifinal Qualifying 1 3 & 52 4 & 63 1 & 74 2 & 8 The four semifinal rounds, divided over two nights, were taped at the same Universal Studios lot where the qualifiers were filmed during two nights. This season was the second under the new format which was introduced in Season 15 in which the semifinals have competitors race head-to-head in pairs. They are seeded based on the overall results in the leaderboard table which is created by merging two leaderboards from qualifying courses with the same obstacles. During the races, all the winners and the two losers who reached the farthest obstacle in the least amount of time advanced to the National Finals, unless more than two race losers finished the semi-final course, in that case they all advance to the next round. Meanwhile, the two fastest winners proceed to a modified head-to-head course at the end of each night where they race for a Safety Pass, an option for a second attempt on Stage 1 of the finals.
Denotes losers also advancing to National Finals Denotes Safety Pass winners runs Denotes rookie contestants
Semifinal 1 + Men's race resultsWinnersLosers Time Result Competitor Competitor Result Time 0:36.077. CompletedKai Beckstrand Jesse Maurer 5. Spin Hopper 0:50.70 7. CompletedKaden Lebsack Eric Middleton 7. Completed 1:54:56 0:58.40 7. Completed Colton SkusterBen Behrends7. Completed1:21.03 1:10.27 7. Completed Levi EnrightTyler Yamauchi5. Spin Hopper 1:16.50 7. Completed Austin GrayBarry Boyd7. Completed1:28.671:18.857. CompletedChris BehrendsGlenn Albright4. Sideways 1:31.50 7. Completed David Tomassoni Mike Silenzi 5. Spin Hopper 1:32.597. CompletedDonovan Metoyer Scott Behrends 5. Spin Hopper 1:35.23 7. Completed Max Feinberg Ethan Gardulski 5. Spin Hopper 1:46.17 7. Completed Jackson Twait Marquez Green 5. Spin Hopper 1:50.587. CompletedCam Baumgartner Nathan Green 4. Sideways 0:36.55 5. Spin Hopper Luke BeckstrandDrew Nester4. Sideways
+ Women's race resultsWinnersLosers Time Result Competitor Competitor Result Time 1:06.27 5. Spin Hopper Emily Keener Violet Kepo'o 5. Spin Hopper 1:08.87 5. Spin Hopper Taylor GreeneJudith Carroll5. Spin Hopper 1:10.59 5. Spin Hopper Mady Howard Jaelyn Bennett 4. Sideways 1:12.205. Spin HopperAnabella HeinrichsRiley Porter4. Sideways
Semifinal 2
NOTE: This round's Safety Pass winner, Jay Lewis, was unable to compete in the National Finals due to an injury sustained prior to the event. He was replaced in the National Finals by one of the race losers, James Sannella.