This season of “American Ninja Warrior” features standout contestants from Utah, including brothers Kai and Luke Beckstrand.
Utah has earned a reputation as being a “hotbed for ‘American Ninja Warrior,’” as previously reported by Deseret News.
In the history of “American Ninja Warrior,” only three competitors have achieved Total Victory in the national finals, claiming the $1 million prize. The first person to ever do so was Isaac Caldiero from Salt Lake City.
To claim the prize, not only must the competitors complete each stage of the course, which tests them athletically in diverse ways, but they must do it in the required amount of time.
While only the qualifiers have aired due to the Olympic trials disrupting the schedule, the semifinals and finals have already taken place.
In an interview with Deseret News, Kai hinted at their performance, saying, “We did pretty good,” but could not disclose further details.
Triumphing in the qualifiers
Kai and Luke Beckstrand excelled in the qualifiers.
According to NBC, Kai achieved the fastest time the night he competed, completing the six obstacles in 1:06.03 minutes. Luke also completed the course with a time of 2:11.38 minutes.
Their mother, Holly Beckstrand, attempted the course alongside her sons but unfortunately did not advance past the qualifiers.
Since Kai completed the course in under 1:20 minutes, he got a shot at the Mega Wall, which is a bonus obstacle qualifying competitors get a shot at. If they reach the top, they receive a prize of $20,000, double the amount it has been in previous seasons.
The Mega Wall was raised to 18.5 feet last season, and Kai, who also competed then, managed to clear it. This season, he showed his athleticism has only improved as he appeared to effortlessly scale the wall, claiming the prize.
One of the commentators remarked, “Hey, Kai that ain’t even fair, man. We need to put that thing to 20 feet for you.”
Kai responded, “Might as well.”
Caleb Bergstrom was the only other competitor to conquer the Mega Wall this season, per NBC.
A family of American Ninja Warriors
The Beckstrand family are "American Ninja Warrior" regulars. Kai and Luke’s parents have competed in previous seasons and trained their children from an early age to follow in their footsteps.
Inspired by the show, Brian Beckstrand, their father, built a course in his backyard to entertain his five kids. This led to him eventually competing in the show himself and opening two ninja fitness gyms in Southern Utah called The Grip Ninja, according to the gym’s website.
Before competing in the official “American Ninja Warrior” competition, both Kai and Luke made names for themselves in “American Ninja Warrior Junior.” Kai appeared in the first season of the junior competition and won the 11-12 age division, taking home $15,000, according to American Ninja Warrior Nation.
For the Beckstrands, "American Ninja Warrior" is about more than just competition or staying active; it’s about family time.
Speaking on why his father became interested in “American Ninja Warrior,” Kai said, “He liked to get active and he always has, but Ninja was one of those things that allowed us to do it as a family, and we can all do it at our own pace.”
On top of training to be the next American Ninja Warrior to claim Total Victory, Kai is also training to become a firefighter like his father. He recently completed a six-month fire academy course to become certified.
He cited his reason for becoming a firefighter as a desire to “be active and to be helping people.”
Friendly rivalry between brothers
The brothers continually try to one-up each other. Their friendly competition motivates them to push each other harder.
Despite their rivalry, Kai emphasized how their competitiveness is always done in good spirit with the intention of “pushing for the best for everybody.”
Luke appreciates training alongside his brother, saying how Kai inspires him “to be my best and do my best.”
Kai said his other motivation is to be a role model for the kids he trains at his family’s gyms.
“That’s one of my motivations is to just be as good of a role model as I possibly can,” he said.