At first glance, winning a game show isn’t a big deal—but this is a whole other beast entirely. Indeed, the significance of somebody completing the American Ninja Warrior course takes a true fan to fully comprehend—because they’ve waited seven seasons for it to happen.
The course, which producers have not only made more difficult over the years, but have also doubled the cash prize for completing it twice, was handled like a leisurely stroll by busboy and mountain climber Isaac Caldiero last week.
Here’s a GIF from the show’s official Twitter account, which shows Caldiero touching a red button (that’s presumably never been seen before, because nobody’s ever gotten to it):
Up the rope & into the history books! @ninjageoff becomes the first American to complete Stage 4! #NinjaWarriorFinale pic.twitter.com/NSGymBYtLd
— Ninja Warrior (@ninjawarrior) September 15, 2015
If you want to see the entire groundbreaking run, the show has tweeted the full video of it. Just remember: Caldiero might be in extremely good shape, but there’s no way he’s gotten to enjoy as much Netflix as you have—not with a body like that. So there’s no reason to feel inferior:
The first #AmericanNinjaWarrior has been crowned! @IsaacCaldiero #NinjaWarriorFinale 🏆🙌https://t.co/AnPaXO6hc9
— Ninja Warrior (@ninjawarrior) September 15, 2015
The sheer pandemonium that erupts in the crowd when Caldiero touches that red button, it makes me wish that I’d seen the show before, because it’d be pretty awesome to be so excited about the red button thing.
The story of Monday’s domination of the American Ninja Warrior course has another interesting detail: Whereas nobody had ever completed the course, until the season 7 finale, Caldiero wasn’t even the only person to finish it. Professional cameraman Geoff Britten also finished the course—but he scaled the red rope, at the end, 3.6 seconds slower than Caldiero did.
It’s very tough to imagine just how crappy that would feel. Seriously, just imagine being Britten. You get depressed in, like, 3.6 seconds.
Meanwhile, Caldiero will be doing whatever it is that people with a $1,000,000 do—renting a high-end luxury car, comparing photos of cigars with a furrowed brow, buying the best non-slip shoes that a busboy can own—and probably doing some parkour.
H/T Mashable | Screengrab via Ninja Warrior/Twitter
