Flip Rodriguez

Flip (formerly David) Rodriguez (デイヴィッド・F・ロドリゲス) is a freerunner who competed in SASUKE 27, and has been a standout competitor in American Ninja Warrior.

SASUKE
Rodriguez made his debut in American Ninja Warrior 3, making it through the qualifying and semi-final rounds with little trouble and completed the Team Relays as one of the more consistent competitors on his team, the White Tigers. This consistency helped him become one of the ten U.S. competitors to qualify for SASUKE 27, with Rodriguez being the #5 qualifier. Although his First Stage run was digested during the NBC broadcast, his full run was shown during the SASUKE 27 broadcast. He was shown showboating on the course during his run, such as doing a flip on the top of the Jumping Spider platform, though this did little to hinder him and he was still able to clear the First Stage with 17.73 seconds left on the clock. In the Second Stage, he failed the Slider Drop when he failed to keep the bar straight along the track, similar to what fellow freerunner and American veteran Levi Meeuwenberg did in SASUKE 25.

American Ninja Warrior 4
In American Ninja Warrior 4 Rodriguez managed to catch the fastest time in the Southeast qualifying round. He repeated his performance in the city finals round, knocking out Kamerion Wimbley. Overall, Rodriguez caught the fastest time in all 6 regions, earning him the prestigious #100 in the Vegas Finals. Rodriguez cleared Stage One with about 18 seconds left, but failed Stage Two on the Balance Tank when he fell backwards and slipped off the tank.

American Ninja Warrior 5
In American Ninja Warrior 5 Rodriguez caught the second fastest time in both the Qualifying Round and City Finals in Miami. In Stage One, he ran as #84 out of 85 but failed the Jumping Spider, as this marks the first time he fail at Stage One. When he came out of the water, during his interview, he was shown to be sobbing as he said he let all of the people who wanted him to win down.

American Ninja Warrior 6
In American Ninja Warrior 6 Rodriguez competed once again in Miami, but shocked many people when he failed the Jump Hang due to a rather controversial ruling where competitors are only allowed to go under the net as opposed to going either above or under it, not knowing how low he was near the water and lost his footing on the net, causing his rear to skim the water. This proved to be one of the most devastating moments of Rodriguez's life, as he felt far more devastated than in the previous season and even considered quitting for good. This is the first time Flip has failed a qualifying course and the only time that he didn't qualify for the city finals. He was invited as a wildcard for Vegas, but he declined.

American Ninja Warrior 7
After such a depressing previous two seasons, Rodriguez came back in American Ninja Warrior 7 stronger than ever due to the support of his fans. He finished the qualifying and landed in third place and for the first time, he ran the course without his trademark mask which represented everything he went through the previous years. In the city finals, he maneuvered through the course with ease until he reached the Invisible Ladder. On the obstacle, he was moving through the obstacle at a steady pace but started getting fatigued. Inches to the finish, he tried to reach it with his legs but his grip gave out and failed. He still put up a strong performance and qualified to Vegas in third place. In Vegas, he got his revenge on the Jumping Spider and completed Stage One and later passed the fourth obstacle for the first time in Stage Two. On the brand new obstacle Roulette Row, Flip was able to transition to the second ring but didn't let go of the ring to land on the landing platform causing him to not gain momentum on the ring and ultimately falling in the water.

American Ninja Warrior 8
Rodriguez came back stronger than ever and returned for American Ninja Warrior 8 at the Los Angeles Qualifying Round at Universal Studios, where he finished with the second fastest time at 02:23.12, advancing to the Los Angeles City Finals. During the Los Angeles City Finals, he put on an impressive run before failing at The Wedge. Since he made it to the obstacle in a fast time he earned a spot for the Las Vegas Finals. Flip once again cleared Stage One with 4.78 seconds remaining. He failed Stage Two's Wave Runner by dismounting from the first board, which was not allowed.

American Ninja Warrior 9
Rodriguez came back for American Ninja Warrior 9 competing in the Los Angeles Qualifying Round once again. While he took a more slow and steady approach to the course, it worked as he cleared with the 8th fastest time. In the city finals, he made it all the way to the new Elevator Climb obstacle but his strength gave out and he fell, but still qualified for Vegas in 5th place. Prior to the Vegas Finals, Rodriguez suffered from a hip injury. Despite this and his Stage One run being digested, he cleared with 30.66 seconds remaining. Once again, he reached the fifth obstacle of Stage Two which is the Wingnut Alley but just like in Roulette Row, he failed on the transition to the landing platform.

American Ninja Warrior 10
Rodriguez returned for American Ninja Warrior 10, once again competing in Los Angeles. He quickly cleared the first four obstacles with ease, but was shockingly one of many who failed the Doorknob Drop. Fortunately, since he reached that obstacle quick enough, he still qualified for the city finals, placing 13th. In the LA finals, he was able to get past the Doorknob Drop and then proceeded to finish the city finals course for the first time since season 5, earning him a spot in the Las Vegas finals. He also became 1 of the 3 competitors on the Los Angeles course this year for failing to complete the qualifying course but later going on to finish the city finals course. In Las Vegas, Flip cleared the Archer Alley and Propeller Bar with ease, but slipped up on the Double Dipper, his second time failing on the First Stage.

American Ninja Warrior 11
Rodriguez returned for American Ninja Warrior 11, competing in Los Angeles again. He progressed steadily through the course and was the first person to attempt the Mega Wall this season, but was unable to scale it after three attempts. Despite this, he still qualified for the city finals, placing 13th again. In the city finals, he performed well and cleared the course with the fastest time and a spot on the Power Tower alongside Brian Kretsch. From there, he completed the Power Tower with no difficulty earning him the first Safety Pass of the season. On Stage One, he performed well, but fell on the Diving Boards injuring his quad in the process. But since he had the Safety Pass, he was able to run the course again. On his second attempt he had a slower pace due to his injury, but was able to clear the Diving Boards this time and finish the course. On Stage Two, Rodriguez's injury got the best of him and although he performed strongly, he ended up timing out on the Water Walls. Although his season ended in a heartbreaking way, he ended off with his best performance to date overall, clearing the fifth obstacle of stage 2 for the first time.

American Ninja Warrior 12
Flip returned for American Ninja Warrior 12 in St. Louis (he was originally going to be in the D.C. regional), which was the first time since American Ninja Warrior 7 in Orlando where his qualifying round took place outside of Los Angeles. In heartbreaking news, he lost his dog Maui due to an auto-immune disease. In the qualifiers, he performed well through the first four obstacles, but struggled on Slingshot and fell there. Fortunately his performance was fast enough to get him through the Semi-Finals having placed 9th. In the Semi-Finals, his run was digested, but he made it to the 9th obstacle, the Dungeon. Fortunately his time was fast enough to place 10th overall, and move on to the finals. In the finals, however, he surprisingly was one of 5 Dragonback victims. This was the first time he failed to hit a buzzer. However, he was shown on the sidelines supporting his fellow ninjas.

American Ninja Warrior 13
Flip returned for American Ninja Warrior 13 in the Tacoma Dome during the fifth and final qualifying episode. While he performed well through the first four obstacles, he fell at Sideways. Fortunately, his fast pace was able to get him to through the semi-finals having placed 19th. Flip later competed in the final semifinals episode. His semi-finals run was digested again but it was shown that failed on the Crazy Clocks. Unfortunately since a majority of competitors made it to the next obstacle Split Decision, he didn't move on to Las Vegas for the first time since season 6. He placed 22nd overall. It was also the first time that he was eliminated during the semifinals.

American Ninja Warrior 14
Flip returned for his twelve season during the first qualifying episode. For once, his run was digested, but it was shown that he failed on the new Salmon Roll, making it the third straight season that he failed the fifth obstacle in qualifying. Fortunately, his fast pace was once again able to get him to advance to the semi-finals, placing 24th.

Trivia

 * For his first four seasons on American Ninja Warrior, he had a mask as a trademark piece of his outfit. In season 8, one year after removing the mask, he revealed more detail about his mask with the reason for wearing. It was because he was sexually abused from the age of 9 to 15.
 * Rodriguez and Drew Drechsel are the only competitors in American Ninja Warrior to have attempt all five versions of the final obstacle in city finals.
 * Rodriguez, Drechsel, and Morvasky are also the only two competitors to use the safety pass on Stage One and clear it on their second try.
 * Rodriguez is the second competitor after Najee Richardson to time out on Stage Two on American Ninja Warrior. Both competitors did so on the Water Walls.
 * Sometime in 2017 or 2018, it was revealed on one of his streams that he legally changed his first name to “Flip”, meaning his first name is no longer “David”.