‘American Ninja Warrior’ Host Akbar Gbajabiamila Shares His Most Memorable Contestants

With “American Ninja Warrior” now in its ninth season, plenty of memorable contestants have come through the show. Isaac Caldiero is the only to warrior to ever win the $1 million grand prize, and Jessie Graff has made it further than any woman in the show’s history.

A few warriors that didn’t make it past the qualifying round, however, stand out for host Akbar Gbajabiamila because of their inspirational attempts at the obstacle course.

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Zach Gowen had his left leg amputated at eight years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. That didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional wrestler and having a stint with WWE, and it couldn’t keep him off the “American Ninja Warrior” course at last year’s Indianapolis qualifier.

“Zach Gowen ran this thing with one leg. He took off his prosthetic, and he shook it in the air and I thought ‘Oh, OK he’s just showing everyone that this is it. I’m gonna run this thing and I’ve got a prosthetic and he’s gonna pop that thing right back on.’ He didn’t pop it back on. He discarded it off to the side. I’m like, ‘What is this?’” Gbajabiamila told International Business Times. “And he starts to run the obstacle, and it literally had me teary-eyed. And I never forgot that.

“You start to think things like, ‘What is your excuse?’ There’s no excuse. You come in life and say ‘Oh, I’ve got an excuse for this, an excuse for that.’ This dude just competed in an obstacle course race with one leg, and you clearly needed both, to the general public. He redefined the whole thing, and I was like, ‘I’m done. I can’t believe what I’m watching.’”

Gowen didn’t finish the course, but he managed to make it past the Floating Steps and the Rolling Log before failing to conquer the Flywheels.

Artis Thompson III also competed in the 2016 qualifying round with one leg. Unlike Gowen, he ran the course with his prosthetic still on.

“These guys are telling you that just because you have a disability, that doesn’t mean you don’t have the ability,” Gbajabiamila told IBT. “And they showed that they have the ability to go out there and compete.”

This year, few contestants have had a more memorable attempt on the course than Jimmy Choi. Choi was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease at 27 years old, but he found himself on “American Ninja Warrior” 14 years later.

In 2012, Choi discovered that exercise helped him manage his Parkinson’s disease, which made tasks like buttoning up his shirt or even tying his shoes a challenge. Having completed 13 marathons, as well as several 100-mile bike rides and triathlons, Choi decided to take on the obstacle course.

“That’s near and dear to my heart because my father suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and I know how hard it is to compete. I know what that does when they talk about your balance, and when you talk about fatigue and all this other stuff. For him to go out there and to compete with Parkinson’s—and you can see tremors, it’s not like you can’t see it—that part was special to me,” Gbajabiamila said.

“I actually walked out of the booth and gave him a hug and told him how much he inspired me. And not only that, but when my father sees it, my father is being inspired.”

Despite visibly shaking on the course, Choi was able to make it past both the Floating Steps and the Hang Glider. It looked like he might be able to conquer the Broken Pipes, but he fell into the water just as he was nearing the end.

Choi represented Team Fox, having already raised more than $100,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

“American Ninja Warrior” has become synonymous with the inspirational stories of many of the contestants. Sometimes, however, there are athletes that are easy to root against.

Confidence is needed to complete the course, but there are times when warriors can be too confident, and it ends up being their downfall.

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“I cannot remember his name, which is probably good and bad. But we had a competitor who came out and he thought he was hot mess. I mean he thought God designed him for not only the world, but for Ninja Warrior. And when you saw him fall it was like, ‘You deserved it.’ There’s confidence and there’s…there’s not even a word that describes this,” Gbajabiamila said.

“Don’t disrespect coming in with ‘I’m bigger than this and this is nothing.’ No, you’re going down.”

“American Ninja Warrior” airs at 8 p.m. EDT Mondays on NBC.