FOREST, Va. – American Ninja Warrior is a test of strength and speed, as elite athletes compete for one million dollars.
Being on the NBC program is a dream come true for Josiah Singleton.
“I had been watching that show since I was a kid, and I was like, ‘Man, that looks like a lot of fun,’” said Singleton.
He traveled to the west coast in March with his friends, Chad Thornhill and Ben Whitlow.
The three met while at Liberty University and decided to try out.
Singleton appeared on the program in 2019 and made it through the first course, but fell short in the later rounds.
He said he felt better prepared this time around, but the hardest obstacle was doing it without an audience because contestants were competing during covid.
“When the crowd’s there, you’re able to pump everyone up and you’re going crazy. But then when there wasn’t a crowd there, it was a lot harder to be like, ‘okay, have to focus. Have to stay in the moment.”
A moment, Chad Thornhill says, the three were able to spend together.
“Being able to do it with them sort of lightened the mood, made it so much more memorable,” said Thornhill.
Whitlow wasn’t available for our interview.
Thornhill said they spent hours replicating the course.
“You might be able to do an obstacle, but when you put six of them together, it increases the challenge; so, you want to get through it as quickly and efficiently as possible so you’re saving as much energy for the later obstacles,” said Thornhill.
But did they make the cut?
You might catch the trio during Monday’s show and future episodes.
“American Ninja Warrior” airs at 9 p.m. on WSLS.