This season set a new record with 8 competitors all advancing to Stage 4, and also crowned the second (third recorded) grand prize winner in Vance Walker, who not only became the fourth (fifth recorded) ninja to achieve "Total Victory", but had previously won American Ninja Warrior Junior twice. In the same season, Daniel Gil became the third (fourth recorded) ninja to achieve total victory, but completed the rope climb slower than Walker.
The qualifying course starts from Pole Vault and ends on Warped Wall. For this season, to get one attempt for the Mega Wall, which was increased to 18.5 feet high, contestants must finish the course in less than 1 minute and 20 seconds; a contestant who completes the Mega Wall still gets an immediate reward of $10,000 (promoted by Wells Fargo).[1][2] Standing next to the main course is a new segment, "The Runoffs", which replaces the Power Tower but follows the same structure: it features four obstacles, with two copies of them located alongside each other. The two male contestants and two female contestants in the last two places on the leaderboard run it side by side for the last spot in the semifinals.
In the semifinals, two contestants will run against each other, side-by-side, on the previously installed Runoffs course with Slingshot and Rope Climb added as a last two obstacles. At the end of the night, the two fastest finishers will run on a Safety Pass course, which replaces some of the obstacles from Semifinals with other ones. The winner receives a Safety Pass which allows for a do-over of stage 1 in the National Finals if he or she fails.
Denotes obstacles created by fans for the Obstacle Design Challenge.
The eight qualifiers, divided into seven nights, took place on the lot of Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. In a major change from past seasons, the number of semifinalists has been reduced, 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.
The first night of qualifying featured two rounds that were held in order. 5 competitors completed Course 1; only two of the competitors managed to finish the course faster than 1 minute and 20 seconds, but neither were able to successfully scale the Mega Wall. In the runoffs, Ramcis Valdez beat Alan Connealy (who made his first appearance since season 9) for the last men's spot, while Taylor Johnson beat Avery Glantz for the last women's spot. New obstacles included the Pole Vault, The Getaway, Lasso Launch, and Home Run in the runoff course. In an emotional moment, Brian Kretsch (who is one of only two competitors to appear in every single season) once again fell on a balance obstacle in the qualifying course (in this case, Domino Effect), and in his post-run interview, he hinted at a possible retirement from competition, citing his continued inability to clear balance obstacles.
Course 2 occurred on the same night as the first qualifying, with 6 competitors finishing it. Top men's finisher Kai Beckstrand became the first competitor to complete this season's taller Mega Wall, and second-place finisher Jera Boyd was the other Mega Wall finisher. In the runoffs, Glenn Albright beat Steven Bachta for the last men's spot, while Jaelyn Bennett beat Larissa Cottle for the last women's spot. New obstacles in the qualifying course included Greased Lightning and Ring the Bells.
Only two competitors completed Course 3. Daniel Gil, who returned after missing the previous season, took the top time for the men and cleared the Mega Wall. In the runoffs, Gary Weiland beat James Thorwart for the last men's spot after completing the balance obstacle and became the first amputee ever to move on to the semi-finals. The qualifying course introduced another new obstacle, Kite Surfer.
Four competitors finished Course 4, but neither of the two who cleared it faster than 1 minute and 20 seconds managed to scale the Mega Wall. Jessie Graff returned again, and for the first time, her mother, 71-year-old Ginny MacColl, also competed (and ultimately failed the second obstacle, Greased Lightning). Brothers Nacssa and Roberto Garemore, who first appeared on American Ninja Warrior Junior, made their main ANW debuts and both advanced to the semi-finals. Firefighter Brandon Mears, one half of the duo called the "Towers of Power", returned after missing last season and announced that he would be making his final run on the course, but ultimately failed on Greased Lightning. This course introduced another new obstacle called The Cubes.
Course 5 was finished by 5 competitors; of those that cleared, only reigning two-time champion (Last Ninja Standing both times) Kaden Lebsack, cleared the course fast enough to try the Mega Wall, but failed to scale it. Former American Ninja Warrior Junior contestant Taylor Greene competed on the main course for the first time after turning 15 and became the first and only woman to clear the qualifying course this season. Two veterans, Jackson Twait and Donovan Metoyer, tried to run the course speedily to get a chance to try the Mega Wall, but both failed with the latter being eliminated after he fell on Domino Effect.
Course 6 was completed by 3 competitors. Sean Bryan took the fastest time and was the only competitor to clear the course fast enough to try the Mega Wall, but his attempt to scale it was ultimately unsuccessful. David Campbell competed again to keep his status as one of only two competitors to appear in every season of the show alive and once again managed to qualify for the semi-finals. Other notable competitors included West Side Storyvisual effects designer Daniel Novarro, who received encouragement from two of the film's stars, Rachel Zegler and Josh Rivera, before the start of his run (Novarro was ultimately defeated in the runoffs by police officer John Uga), and veteran Nate Tackett, who advanced to the semi-finals after receiving encouragement from his cousin, legendary country music singer Crystal Gayle.
Course 7 was completed by only two competitors, with two-time American Ninja Warrior Junior champion Vance Walker taking the top time after failing to hit a single buzzer in the previous season. Abel Gonzalez returned and once again managed to advance to the semi-finals, as did two of his students, Sebastian Chrismer and Erick Zamorano, the latter advancing by way of his win in the runoffs. 15-year-old rookie Hunter Ogden made it as far as the fifth obstacle, Lasso Launch, but injured himself on the third obstacle, Log Runner, and despite finishing in the top 8, could not continue on to the semi-finals due to his injury.
Course 8 saw 7 competitors clearing, with Caleb Bergstrom becoming only the 4th competitor of the season to scale the Mega Wall successfully, but for the first time in five weeks, and earn $10,000. The fifth obstacle, The Cubes, returned to the course, though it was referred to in this episode as Mutant Mayhem, with the water below it dyed green, both done to promote the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
The four semifinal rounds, divided over three nights, were taped at the same Universal Studios lot where the qualifiers were filmed during three nights. This season, a new format was introduced to the semifinals in which competitors race head-to-head in pairs. They are seeded based on the overall results in the leaderboard table which is created by merging 2 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 losers finished the semi-final course, by which case they all advance. 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.
On the first night of the semifinals, Taylor Greene became the first woman rookie to complete two straight obstacle courses and the only woman of the night to hit a buzzer. Two father-son duos, the Behrends and Beckstrands, attempted to advance to the National Finals together for the first time in the show's history. While Kai Beckstrand finished the course in under a minute, but his father, Brian Beckstrand, was eliminated by Max Feinberg, the Behrends: Scott and Ben Behrends both won their races to become the first father-son duo to advance together. Kai later lost to two-time reigning Last Ninja Standing Kaden Lebsack in the Safety Pass race at night's end. Notable veterans not advancing to the National Finals are Chris DiGangi and Roo Yori, who failed to make the finals for the third and sixth straight time. Professional wrestler Baron Corbin briefly joined Matt and Akbar in the broadcast booth as a guest analyst.
On the second night of the semifinals, season 14 finalist Josiah Pippel faced rookie Noah Meunier in the Safety Pass race, which Meunier ultimately won when both of them fell on Sideways after a video replay, as Meunier finished the previous obstacle less than a second before Pippel did. Abby Clark and Rachel Degutz, two of the "Jersey Girlz", faced each other in one of the races; Degutz won and was the only woman to complete the course, in the process also hitting her first-ever buzzer. Veterans Joe Moravsky, Najee Richardson, and James McGrath won their races against teenagers (with McGrath making his first trip to the National Finals since season 10) while other veterans lost theirs and were eliminated. David Campbell, who has competed in every season of the show, took the course at his own pace instead of racing and managed to advance to the National Finals as the fastest race loser after he finished it a minute later than his idol, Evan Andrews. Though he qualified for Vegas by winning his race, veteran Sean Bryan chose to withdraw after completing Hopscotch due to feeling pain in his arm.
On the third and final night of the semifinals, two rounds took place. In round 3, former American Ninja Warrior Junior competitors Vance Walker and Isaiah Thomas faced each other at the end of the night in a race for the Safety Pass, with Walker narrowly coming out on top. 15-year old Madelyn Madaras became the third woman this season to clear the semifinals course, as she won her race and advanced to the National Finals. Sandy Zimmerman won her race and earned her first trip to the National Finals after 8 years of competing after her opponent, Isabella Wakeham, shockingly fell on the second obstacle. Isabella's brother, Isaiah Wakeham, completed the course and advanced to the National Finals as the best non-race winner. Other notable veterans not advancing to the National Finals include Abel Gonzalez, Grant McCartney, Nick Hanson, and Ian Dory (who had made his first appearance since season 11).
The fourth round of semifinals happened on the same night. R.J. Roman took the fastest time and also won a Safety Pass after defeating Elijah Browning in the final race, finishing in under 40 seconds. Caleb Bergstrom and his wife, Ashley, made history as the first married couple to advance to the National Finals together; also advancing was Caleb's brother-in-law, David Bergstrom-Wright. David's wife (and Caleb's sister), Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright, did not advance after being eliminated in her race by her sister-in-law, Ashley (had Caitlyn won the race, she and David would have been the first married couple to advance together instead of Caleb and Ashley). Veterans Brett Sims and Bob Reese advanced to the National Finals as the two top race losers after both of them completed the course. Two notable veterans who did not advance to the National Finals were Ryan Stratis (who appeared for the first time since season 11) and Jessie Graff.
In stage 1 (which was spread out over 2 nights), the contestants had 2 minutes and 50 seconds to clear the 8-obstacle course in order to advance to stage 2. However, this season it was important for 24 contestants to advance due to changes applied to stage 2; this way, not only finishers but athletes who made it the furthest in the least amount of time would advance to the next stage. Two new obstacles were introduced in the stage this season: The Gambler and Thread the Needle. In the first night, Bob Reese successfully performed a front flip on the Jumping Spider after failing to do it in the previous season and veteran Flip Rodriguez timed out at the cargo net which does not officially count as an obstacle. During the second night, veteran Najee Richardson failed to advance in what could be his final run due to an asthma attack and R.J. Roman advanced only after using his Safety Pass when his first run saw him fall on Thread the Needle. No woman completed the stage or received a seed in Stage 2, with rookie Taylor Greene making it farther than any other, getting as far as Dipping Birds.
Denotes competitor who used the Safety Pass after failing on his first run.
For the first time ever, the stage is not timed because of the new racing format previously introduced in semifinals. It also disallows competitors who fail to use their Safety Pass to retry the stage for the first time since its introduction. Instead, the top four losers compete with each other in two races, with the winner from each race advancing to Stage Three. One new obstacle debuted, Jawbreakers. During the races, veterans Joe Moravsky, Josiah Pippel, and Flip Rodriguez were eliminated, as well as reigning Last Ninja Standing Kaden Lebsack, who fell into the water for the first time in his three-year career.
Denotes the fastest non-winners who advanced to the runoffs.
Stage 3 retained its format from the previous seasons, so only the competitors who pass it advance to the final stage. 2 new obstacles were introduced this season: Pressure Cooker and Road Signs. Slam Dunk made its Stage 3 debut.
Daniel Gil became the third (fourth recorded) American Ninja Warrior and the second runner-up to achieve Total Victory, while Vance Walker became the fourth (fifth recorded) American Ninja Warrior and the second (third recorded) to win $1,000,000.
The series was officially announced by NBC in late March,[3][4][5] 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.[6] Filming for qualifiers moved to Los Angeles, California, where the semifinals remained. Filming for national finals remained in Las Vegas, Nevada.[7]
Filming for the season began on March 15, 2023 and wrapped in early May 2023.[7]
On March 30, 2023, NBC revealed the premiere date and timeslot for the season.[4][5] The timeslot of previous seasons, Monday 8:00, was kept (however most episodes are reduced to one hour, with notable exceptions), with reruns scheduled regularly on Sunday 7:00 (except for conflicts with the three consecutive Sundays of conflicts with the USGA U. S. Open and NASCARNashville and Chicago rounds, all of which were in prime time) and on select weeks on Thursday at 9:00 and Friday at 8:00. The season airs on NBC.
