Paul Kasemir

Paul Kasemir (ポール・キャゼミア) is a software engineer from Longmont, Colorado, and competitor in both SASUKE and American Ninja Warrior. He trains for Ninja Warrior and SASUKE and keeps himself fit from his sedentary career by various activities such as rock climbing, parkour, and dance training.

SASUKE
Kasemir made his debut in SASUKE 26 by qualifying for the tournament through American Ninja Warrior 2. During the qualifiers for Japan, despite being an unknown walk-on competitor, he managed to blaze through the course, clearing in 7th place, and in the semi-finals, became one of just ten to clear the course, placing 4th. He then went on to secure a spot through boot camp, qualifying for Japan.

There, he was one of a then-record five Americans to clear the First Stage and a record four Americans to clear the Second Stage. In the First Stage, he cleared the most obstacles in the front half with very little difficulty, despite taking a lot of time to clear the Hazard Swing. However, on the back half of the course, he began to slow down, and got tangled in the Giant Swing's netting. But despite reaching the Tarzan Rope with just twenty seconds left, he managed to press the button in time and finish with 00.84 seconds on the clock, the closest clear since Brian Orosco cleared by 00.68 seconds in SASUKE 21.

In the Second Stage, he was the first runner, and did not disappoint. Despite a small slip on the Balance Tank, he was able to recover and clear the course with just over two seconds remaining. In the Third Stage, he struggled immnsely on the first obstacle (the Roulette Cylinder), taking over 40 seconds to clear it. Due to fatigue, he lost his grip a short while later, slipping off the second knob of the Doorknob Grasper while attempting to swing to the third.

Kasemir then competed in American Ninja Warrior 3. He went through the prelims in 57 seconds and he became one of the ten to make it to SASUKE 27. He was again one of the four Americans to clear the Second Stage; however, he was also one of the four Americans to fail the Ultimate Cliffhanger.

Kasemir is only one of few to compete in at least two tournaments without ever failing the first or second stages.

American Ninja Warrior
Kasemir returned for American Ninja Warrior 4, and posted the fastest time in both the qualifiers and the regional finals. In the Vegas Finals he cleared the First Stage easily, but he struggled in the Second Stage and he had less than 20 seconds by the time he beat the Balance Tank. Shortly after, he lost his grip on the Metal Spin and plummeted into the water, in one of the most shocking exits of the season.

In American Ninja Warrior 5, Kasemir placed first in the Denver finals after clearing the qualifiers as well. In Vegas once again he cleared the First Stage. In the Second Stage, however, he shocked everybody when he failed the Double Salmon Ladder when he let his bad habit of looking to the left on the obstacle get the best of him.

Kasemir competed in the American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. Japan Special. In the second match in the 1st stage, he went up against Kanno Hitoshi, who was still recovering from a surgery. Kanno went first and cleared it 1:25.43. Paul went next and cleared with 1:24.80, less than a second away from Kanno, and led USA to win that match & the 1st Stage. He went again in the 3rd stage in the 4th match. He made it farther than he did before as he made it to the Flying Bar. Kanno Hitoshi went after Paul and at that time, Team Japan was in crunch time and needed the 3 points to go to the Final Stage tiebreaker. This did not happen, however, as Kanno shockingly failed the Ultimate Cliffhanger, which then Team USA got the 3 points and the show ended, 6 to nothing.

In American Ninja Warrior 6, Kasemir once again cleared the qualifiers in a run that was digested, though it did take him two tries to get up the Warped Wall. His finals run was also digested, but it was revealed that he managed to complete the course with the second fastest time, despite getting injured on the Doorknob Arch, when his body hit the edge of the ending wall. In Vegas, he earned the nickname Mr. Consistency for his Stage 1 completions. Kasemir once again cleared Stage 1. On the Second Stage, he was able to complete the Double Salmon Ladder that took him out last year. On the Unstable Bridge, however, Kasemir was able to make it to the second bridge. Unfortunately, he lost his grip and fell in the water. This is the third consecutive year that Paul hasn't cleared the Second Stage.

Kasemir returned for the USA Vs. The World Special. He went up against Asa Kazuma and Miska Sutela in the First Stage's third match. Paul ended up clearing the stage for an amazing seventh time in his career while Asa and Sutela failed the Jumping Spider and Soritatsu Kabe respectively. He competed again in the Third Stage's first match with Asa Kazuma and Vadym Kuvakin. Kuvakin would end up going to the Hang Climbing, while Paul and Asa would both fail the Cannonball Incline. However Team USA ended up advancing with Team Europe, while Team Japan was controversially knocked out.

In American Ninja Warrior 7, Kasemir competed in the Kansas City course. He easily completed the course with the second fastest time. In the city finals, his run was digested and it was shown that he failed the Body Prop, the second time he failed a city finals course since Season 3. However, he managed to finish 7th and qualify to Vegas. His run was broadcast first and while he cruised through most of the obstacles, he shockingly failed on the Triple Swing, the final obstacle on stage one, ending his streak of Stage 1 completions.

Post-ANW
Kasemir did not compete in American Ninja Warrior 8, having recently married his new wife, despite rumors that he did not receive a call to compete. He has not competed on a regular season of American Ninja Warrior since, citing his new married life and tougher process of getting on the show. However, in recent years, he has continued his career in American Ninja Warrior's team competition franchise as a member of Lorin Ball's The Ballers. They have competed in Team Ninja Warrior 2 and season 1 of American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja. On August 6th, 2018, a fan asked Kasemir on Instagram if he was going to return to American Ninja Warrior, he responded with "I'm not really competing ANW anymore. It's too competitive and I can't get in." With this it is most likely he will not return to American Ninja Warrior.