Alyssa Varsalona is a physical therapy student who first competed in American Ninja Warrior 11 in Atlanta. She has injured her ACL a significant amount of times before competing, having torn it a total of five times before. She is also known as the Never Quit Ninja.
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
Alyssa made her debut in American Ninja Warrior 11 in Atlanta. She made an amazing save on Block Run and later became the first woman of the night to complete the Bouncing Spider. However, after coming so close, she failed the Ferris Wheel after her grip gave out on the final drop. She placed 32nd overall but qualified through the women's top 5 and advanced to the city finals.
In the city finals, her run was digested, but it showed that she surprisingly failed Block Run and did not advance to Las Vegas.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Alyssa was originally slated to compete in Washington D.C. in ANW 12. However, due to the pandemic altering the season, she did not participate that year. Likely to make up for this, she was able to compete in ANW 13.
On the course, she had a bet with her husband, Cole Rives, on who could get farther on the course. During her run, Alyssa managed to make it to the fifth obstacle again, before failing Pretzel Twist. This time, she managed to make the top 30, placing 27th in the leaderboard. She also placed 1st overall in the womens' top 5. At the end of the night, she additionally bettered her husband on the course, as Cole didn't make it past the second obstacle that round.
During the semifinals, she competed in the third episode. But like ANW 11, her season once again ended on a balance obstacle, as she went out on Diamond Dash.