First woman to complete grueling 'Ninja Warrior' finals becomes a viral phenom, seeks to inspire other young women to get in shape and live healthy

  • Kacy Catanzaro, 24, became the first woman to complete the 'American Ninja Warrior' regional final obstacle course in Dallas, Texas last week
  • The video of her completing the course went viral, amassing over 6.5 million views by Saturday
  • Catanzaro will compete in the National finals, which take place on the US version of Mount Midoriyama in Las Vegas, Nevada

By Kirk Maltais and Associated Press

Social media was abuzz this week after the success of the first woman to complete the grueling finals course on NBC's 'American Ninja Warrior.'

Kacy Catanzaro, 24, a New Jersey native, became the first woman to complete the shows' Dallas, Texas, regional finals obstacle course, which demanded her to perform physical feats such as scaling a 14-ft high 'warp wall' and swing over a pitfall holding on to a log, among other challenges.

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Mighty: Kacy Catanzaro posing in front of the 'American Ninja Warrior' Dallas regional final course, which she became the first woman to complete this week

Mighty: Kacy Catanzaro posing in front of the 'American Ninja Warrior' Dallas regional final course, which she became the first woman to complete this week

Finish Line: Catanzaro completing the course, which qualified her to compete in the National finals, held in Las Vegas

Finish Line: Catanzaro completing the course, which qualified her to compete in the National finals, held in Las Vegas

Since her success on Monday night, the YouTube clip of her run went viral, garnering more than 6.5 million views as of Saturday morning. Her Twitter also received a flood of new followers, more than 30,000 since the show aired.

Her hashtag #MightyKacy took off, resulting in her trending on both Twitter and Facebook.

Her success on the course qualified her to compete in the show's national finals, which will take place in Las Vegas.

'American Ninja Warrior' is the American remake of 'Sasuke', a popular show in Japan in which contestants attempt to navigate a similar four-stage obstacle course.

Catanzaro navigating the 'Quintuple Steps', the first challenge of the obstacle course

Catanzaro navigating the 'Quintuple Steps', the first challenge of the obstacle course

Hang on! Catanzaro using a pair of rings to climb over a pit, one of the ten obstacles she navigated on her way to victory

Hang on! Catanzaro using a pair of rings to climb over a pit, one of the ten obstacles she navigated on her way to victory

Catanzaro catching her breath before moving on to the next obstacle

Catanzaro catching her breath before moving on to the next obstacle

Catanzaro swinging back and forth to gain enough momentum to jump onto the net in front of her

Catanzaro swinging back and forth to gain enough momentum to jump onto the net in front of her

The American remake began airing on the G4 network in 2007, then titled 'American Ninja Challenge.' NBC picked up the show in 2013. Reruns of the episodes aired on NBC are now being shown on the newly-relaunched Esquire Network.

Catanzaro, a 5-foot gymnast weighing 100 pounds, says that she intends to use her newfound Internet celebrity to spread a positive message of physical fitness to young women nationwide.

'It's nice to look good and have a great body, but you enjoy your life so much more if you are fit,' she said. 'That is the message I definitely want to get out.'

 

Catanzaro has been doing gymnastics for most of her life, and was a gymnast at Towson University, which prepared her to have the strength to overcome the challenge. She will need it when she arrives in Las Vegas for the national finals, in which contestants compete on the US version of Mount Midoriyama, the final course for 'Sasuke' also bearing that name.

While she made it look easy, Catanzaro did experience some trepidation while going through the Dallas course.

'The ring toss was something new this year and it was definitely a challenge, but I just took it slow and tried to stay calm,' she told People Magazine. 'When I missed the rung a few ties and swung out and I could hear the audience go, "Oh!"'

Kacy's message to her fans, posted on Instagram on Thursday

Kacy's message to her fans, posted on Instagram on Thursday

'It's nice to look good and have a great body, but you enjoy your life so much more if you are fit,' says Catanzaro

'It's nice to look good and have a great body, but you enjoy your life so much more if you are fit,' says Catanzaro

Catanzaro pulls herself up, displaying her excellent fitness

Catanzaro pulls herself up, displaying her excellent fitness

Despite the challenges, victory was sweet for Catanzaro.

'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 told USA Today. '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] …'

As for what she plans to do in the future, Catanzaro said that she hopes to become a motivational speaker in school to encourage young people to be physically fit.

For now, Catanzaro competes on the NBC show in addition to 'Alpha Warrior', a similar style competition that tours the United States. Her boyfriend is also a contestant in both competitions.

The comments below have not been moderated.

Wow !!!!!

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Super girl, super strength and looks good too.

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She did great. you would be amazed what adrenaline can make you do. I worked out with weights everyday for a while and did a mudrun. I was in shape but still was lacking in the upper body strength dept. I had so much adrenaline doing it that I had no problem (most of it is using upper body). I suggest everyone try an obstacle course race. They are alot of fun.

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shes amazing cuz she is strong as a man and yet still petite. she is pretty but dosent use it as a come up. she is a whole bunch of contasts. I.e small/strong,athletic/womanly,pretty/strong.

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all night long

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The real life Wonder Woman!

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I love this show and shes awesome!!!

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This young lady is simply amazing! I wish her the best of luck. I've been offering encouragement to a couple of young ladies who are trying to lose weight. Being fit and healthy is more than about "looks", it's about having the strength, mobility and endurance to do even the mundane things, like putting up groceries and doing yard work . And you never know if you'll have to do the unexpected, like having to get over a fence, or having to lift something to help a loved one. I'm a short 5' 1" (and 115 lbs) and sometimes can be in too much of a rush to get my step stool when cooking. Because I do push ups and left free weights and run I can easily boost myself onto the counter so I can get the needed ingredient from the top shelves.

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Light strong and agile.... Good DNA

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Saw this a few days ago. Very impressive!

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