Brian Arnold

Brian Arnold is a maintenance director who has competed in seven American Ninja Warrior tournaments.

American Ninja Warrior 4
Brian made his debut in American Ninja Warrior 4 where he competed in the Midsouth Region. His run was digested, but it was shown that he completed the course in 14th place. In the Midsouth Region Finals, his run was digested, but it was shown that he completed the course again, this time in 3rd place.

In Vegas, his run was once again digested, but it was shown that he completed Stage 1 with 11.84 seconds remaining. However, he failed the Balance Tank in Stage Two.

American Ninja Warrior 5
In American Ninja Warrior 5, Arnold competed in Denver where he finished the qualifying course in 12th place. He also completed the city finals course in 3rd place again, advancing to Vegas for the second straight year.

In Vegas, Arnold cut it close but was able to finish Stage One with 3.64 seconds left. He also completed Stage Two with 26.23 seconds left.

On Stage Three, he was the only competitor that day to defeat the Floating Boards but failed the Ultimate Cliffhanger due to the fact that a ledge broke off. Arnold was granted a second attempt, and this first attempt was cut from the broadcast.

On his second attempt, Arnold went on to complete the Ultimate Cliffhanger and made history as the first American to complete the Hang Climbing and the Spider Flip. Arnold failed the Flying Bar, due to the left side of the bar not landing in the fourth cradle. He was Last Man Standing in that tournament.

USA vs. Japan
On the American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. Japan special, he beat Matachi Ryo in the first Stage Two match upon defeating the Double Salmon Ladder, the obstacle Ryo fell on. In Stage Three, he was again matched up with Matachi falling at the exact same spot Matachi fell on; the 2nd rung on the Flying Bar. Because he was a second late, he lost the match.

American Ninja Warrior 6
In American Ninja Warrior 6, he competed in Denver. He finished the qualifying course in 14th place and the city finals course in 3rd place.

On Stage One, he finished the final obstacle with 20 seconds remaining, but waited until he only had 1.5 seconds left before hitting the buzzer. His strategy was so he could run early on Stage Two in order to allow for more time to rest for Stage 3 (bearing in mind that in this tournament the order of Stage 2 runs was determined by slowest Stage 1 performance going first), however this backfired as the first obstacle was a new obstacle that he had never seen before, the Rope Jungle, and only saw JJ Woods struggle on this obstacle before attempting it himself. He spent more than 30 seconds on the obstacle, causing him to tire before the Double Salmon Ladder, where he struggled, and by the time he reached the Unstable Bridge he was exhausted and couldn't make the jump between boards, ultimately failing there. The rest of the Wolf Pack, who had all finished Stage 1, all failed Stage 2. He stated in a post-run interview that he regretted his Stage 1 strategy.

USA vs. The World
He later redeemed himself by passing Stage Two in the American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World competition, though not in the original 125-second time allowed in the regular season. In the final heat of regulation, he forced a Tiebreaker-Final Stage by defeating his nemesis, the Flying Bar. In doing so, Arnold completed the Third Stage, becoming the first American to do so in the history of American Ninja Warrior.

American Ninja Warrior 7
He came back in American Ninja Warrior 7 and placed 31st in Kansas City out of the 38 finishers. The rest of the Wolf Pack (Noah Kaufman, MD, Ian Dory and Isaac Caldiero) also finished as well. In the city finals, his run was digested, but he surprisingly went out on the Body Prop. This was his first time failing on a finals course. Like many that night, he still ended up placing 12th and was able to move on to Vegas for the 4th time. Ian Dory was the only member of the wolf pack to complete the Body Prop, and finish the course.

On the Stage 1, he blazed through the course with a time 22.85 left, but almost slipped on the Jumping Spider. Learning his lesson from last season Brian pressed the buzzer immediately. On Stage 2, he got past the first four obstacles, but on the new Roulette Row, he wasn't able to reach the second cycle and fell in the water. He later stated in a post-run interview that he will no longer be training full time due to his failure in the past two seasons.

American Ninja Warrior 8
Brian returned in American Ninja Warrior 8 completed the Indianapolis Qualifying course placing 5th in the top 30. He was one of four competitors that completed the city finals course, placing 3rd overall. In Vegas, he completed Stage 1 with 14.10 seconds left, But on Stage 2, he was one of four competitors that failed the Double Wedge.

USA vs. The World 3
Brian then represented Team USA in American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World 3, marking his third appearance in the tournament (second only to Drew Dreschel with five appearances most ever by any ANW competitor).

He first competed in Stage Two and went up against Sean McColl of Team Europe and Diego Gonzalez of Team Latin America. Arnold once again failed the Double Wedge when the left side got wedged in and he couldn't pull it out. He tried to go backwards, but it slipped out of the panels, taking Arnold with it. He ultimately lost the heat to McColl (who completed the stage).

Brian was looking to redeem himself and clinch the victory for Team USA in Stage 3 but surprisingly fell off of the landing platform on the Ultimate Cliffhanger after basically completing the obstacle. It was later shown he kicked off the wall dismounting, which caused him to overshoot the landing. He would unfortunately lose the round to Stefano Ghisolfi but Team USA still managed to win the tournament after Drew Drechsel cleared Stage 3 in the next heat.

American Ninja Warrior 9
Brian competed in Denver in American Ninja Warrior 9, where he failed the Rail Runner, when he overshot the transition, slamming his nose into the rail, breaking it in the process. The subsequent disorientation caused him to lose his grip on the apparatus. This was the first time he failed the city qualifying course. Brian did place 9th and moved on to the city finals, in the city finals, Brian got his revenge on the Rail Runner but once again failed the dismount on The Wedge, making him the only person to fail both versions of The Wedge. Arnold placed 11th overall, which granted him his sixth straight trip to the national finals.

In Stage 1 of the national finals, Brian's run was digested but it was shown that he cleared the stage with 19.85 seconds remaining marking his sixth consecutive Stage 1 clear. However, Brian's Stage Two failures continued as he couldn't make the transition to the third Wingnut on Wingnut Alley.

American Ninja Warrior 10
Brian returned to Indianapolis in American Ninja Warrior 10. His qualifying run was digested, but he was shown to once again fail on the fifth obstacle, this time being the Spin Hopper. But like last year, he still qualified for the city finals, by placing 13th.

In the city finals, his run was put in the corner to watch during the commercials, but it was shown that got his revenge on the Spin Hopper but failed Cane Lane. His time to Cane Lane was enough to place 13th and move on to Vegas for the seventh time in his career.

On Stage 1, his run was once again put in the corner to watch during the commercials (August 27th), but it was shown that he shockingly failed the transition to the cargo net on the final obstacle, Twist & Fly, thus ending his streak of hitting six consecutive Stage 1 buzzers. This marked the first time he failed to complete Stage 1, as well as the first time he failed to hit a buzzer.

Brian revealed on Instagram that he's taking at least a 1-year hiatus from the show, which means he won't be competing on American Ninja Warrior 11 and is now taking a break from American Ninja Warrior.

Trivia

 * Brian Arnold currently has the highest number of consecutive stage one clears in Vegas, at 6 clears in a row but Daniel Gil currently has the second highest number of consecutive stage one clears in Vegas, at 5 clears in a row.
 * In American Ninja Warrior 9's Denver finals, Arnold was responsible for one of the closest differences in ANW history, in which he cleared the Salmon Ladder .14 seconds faster than Yancey Quezada.
 * Brian is the only ninja to fail both variants of The Wedge. Which are the Double Wedge in American Ninja Warrior 8 Stage Two and The Wedge during the American Ninja Warrior 9 Denver City Finals.