Kacy Catanzaro Talks Training And Becoming An American Ninja Warrior

Kacy Catanzaro has made history after not only becoming the first woman to make it up the warped wall on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, but also because she has now become the first woman to conquer the qualifying course that will take her straight to Mt. Midoriyama!

For those of you who haven’t seen American Ninja Warrior, let’s give you a little recap of what it’s all about. The show is based on a popular Japanese show, Sasuke, where participants attempt to complete what looks like an impossible obstacle course. The U.S. version is pretty much the exact same: Participants each try their hand at an obstacle course filled with all sorts of obstacles that test every aspect of their physical strength.

Fans of the hit TV show American Ninja Warrior have been doing nothing but gushing over Kacy Catanzaro’s success over the past few weeks, and just as The Inquisitr previously reported, Kacy has become an inspiration to many.

Standing at five feet tall and weighing in close to 100 pounds, her small size had many believing that the former gymnast would take a splash and have to try again next season, but she proved everyone wrong. Kacy knew she had fans, but after finishing the course that would earn her a trip to Mt. Midoriyama, she found out just how many.

According to USA Today’s For the Win, more than six million people watched Kacy’s final qualifying run both on NBC’s broadcast and or later on YouTube and the internet.

“I knew a lot of women would be excited and inspired by it,” Catanzaro told For The Win. “But I had no idea so many people would care so much about it.”

One of the people inspired by Kacy’s run is her former coach from Towson University, Vicki Chliszczyk:

“She’s such an inspiration. Even when she was here, when she was on the floor she just lit up the arena,” Chliszczyk told WBALTV. “We’ve gotten an outpouring of contacts from alumni, and the girls on the team now — even the commitments we have for our future kids — are all tweeting all about her.”

So how did Kacy Catanzaro become the ninja warrior she is today? It doesn’t hurt that she was already in great shape from her days as a gymnast, but she also said that she had reached out to her now boyfriend, Brent Steffensen, for training help. Brent is also a well-known and respected American Ninja Warrior, so it’s not surprising that she would turn to him for help. They trained hard together, and Kacy told For the Win that she has been keeping her diet in check as well. She dined from a menu heavy in seafood and protein so she could become “strong but as light and lean as possible.”

While Kacy is ecstatic to be an inspiration to a whole new generation of Ninja Warriors, she also said that she is proud of herself and how far she has come.

“There’s really no ways to explain that feeling when you have this goal and you work so hard to get there and that moment of conquering it was just so amazing,” she said. “I was just so happy to have done that for myself and all the other women that don’t think it’s possible to compete against [men]…”

So what’s next for Kacy Catanzaro? She will join other finalists at the end of the American Ninja Warrior season to try her hand at Mt. Midoriyama, and from there, the sky’s the limit!

[Image via Kacy Catanzaro’s Instagram Feed]