They call her Mighty Kacy for a reason — this 100-pound gymnast from Texas has become the first woman to qualify for the national American Ninja Warrior competition.
24-year-old Kacy Catanzaro made history Monday night when she zipped through a grueling obstacle course in the Dallas regional to secure her spot in the final round in Las Vegas. The five-foot brawny brunette didn’t let her small stature stop her when she effortlessly scaled a curved wall three times her height.
Just before she started her 8-minute and 59-second run through the course, she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes before bolting from mat to mat in the first challenge. She then wrapped her thin frame around the Log Grip like a pro with the crowd chanting her name in the background.
She floored announcers at each stage of the course, especially when she masterfully used all of her strength to climb the Salmon Ladder, a feat no woman has ever attempted or completed.
“You could do this all day,” her boyfriend and trainer, Brent Steffensen, shouted at her before she made it up the ladder.
“Look at this,” one announcer said as she threw her body weight to push herself up each rung. “Wow, are you kidding me?!” the other one said as she gracefully dismounted.
While Catanzaro’s compactness likely helped her climb through a cargo net without touching her feet to the ground, she was at an obvious disadvantage on the Pole Grasper, where she had to jump to a pole more than five feet away from her.
Her final challenge was the Spider Climb, where she frog jumped up a 25-foot shaft to finish the race.
“Shut the front door,” the announcer yelled. “She’s about to do the impossible. There is no limit to what this woman can do.”
Catanzaro pounded the buzzer with her fists before throwing her hands in the air and screaming with joy. Steffensen made his way up the Spider Climb to give Catanzaro a congratulatory hug.
She will move on to the finals in Las Vegas, where she’ll compete for $500,000 and the chance to clinch the title of American Ninja Warrior.