American Ninja Warrior: Obstacle Design Challenge is a contest that was first announced on American Ninja Warrior 8. As the name applies, fans must create an obstacle and submit it to the ANWNation website (and later, to an external website). It then will be modified and be used in one of the courses on the next season. It can be either used during the city qualifiers, city finals, or Las Vegas national finals.
Here are some of the rules on how to submit an obstacle:
- Upload a photo of the obstacle.
- Type down the title of the obstacle.
- Type the description and rules on how to attempt the obstacle in 100 words or fewer.
- Upload a submission video about the obstacle.
There are some rules pertaining to the obstacles themselves:
- The obstacle must be no greater than in 10 feet (3 meters) in height, 8 feet (2.4 meters) in width, and 24 feet (7.3 meters) in length.
- The obstacle cannot be automated (using motors to drive the obstacle). Examples of automated obstacles including but not limited to:
- The obstacle must accommodate competitors' height (5 feet to 7 feet/154 cm to 213 cm) and weight (85 lbs to 250 lbs/38.56 kg to 113.4 kg).
- The obstacle must be completely original. Pre-existing American Ninja Warrior obstacles, SASUKE obstacles, or any original obstacle made in the many international formats may not be passed off as an original idea for an obstacle and may even fall under copyright and patent infringement. However, these obstacles may be modified to the extent that they may be considered original.
Additional rules for the submission itself include:
- No real-life demonstrations of the obstacle.
- No music.
The challenge is only available to U.S. citizens ages 18 years old and above who are currently residing within any of the 50 states and District of Colombia. If a minor wants to submit their entry, they must have a parent or guardian submit the entry on their behalf. Up to two entries can be submitted per person per season.
The winning designer(s) of the obstacle will have an opportunity to go see the obstacle they created come to life up close and personal in an American Ninja Warrior course, as well as a gift bag worth US$250. In each season, one of the selected obstacles will be selected as the "Best Obstacle" in the contest.
While there is only one official winner, multiple selections will be used on each season.
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
With the introduction of the contest last season, the winning obstacles were used on American Ninja Warrior 9. Eight obstacles submitted by fans were used on this season. Four of them debuted during the City Qualifiers round, three of them during the City Finals round (the back half part of the courses), and one during the Las Vegas National Finals.
Among the eight obstacles on the list below, four (the Battering Ram, Sky Hooks, Wingnuts, and Iron Maiden) would make their first SASUKE/Ninja Warrior international appearance on Australian Ninja Warrior 2, while the Double Dipper made an appearance on SASUKE 35 as Dragon Glider.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Battering Ram | 5th | Los Angeles qualifiers | Luke Pereira | First introduced during Celebrity Ninja Warrior: Red Nose Day. The name of its designer was not revealed upon broadcast and was found due to external information. |
Sky Hooks | 4th | San Antonio qualifiers | Benjamin Tan | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 9 Obstacle Design Challenge.
Youngest winner of the contest at seven years old. |
Wingnuts | 3rd | Daytona Beach qualifiers | Kevin Carbone | Carbone became the only person to complete his own obstacle that he submitted, doing so during the Daytona Beach qualifiers and finals. Modified as the Wingnut Alley in Stage Two. |
Crank It Up | 4th | Kansas City qualifiers | Kevin Brekke | Brekke was later hired to become a professional obstacle designer on ATS (the company that builds the obstacles presented on the show). |
Iron Maiden | 9th | Kansas City finals | Brett Sims | |
Nail Clipper | 8th | Cleveland finals | Calvin Boyce | Reappeared again in Stage Three. |
Ninjago Roll | 9th | Denver finals | Josephine Starr Stevenson | Served to promote The LEGO Ninjago Movie. |
Double Dipper | 3rd | Las Vegas national finals (Stage One) | Hannah Willie | Doubled variant of the Big Dipper. Credited as "Hannah W." during the broadcast. |
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
For the second year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 9. Just like last year, fans would create an obstacle and must submit it to the ANWNation website. The winning obstacles would set to debut on American Ninja Warrior 10.
There were four obstacles submitted from the fans that were used on this season. One debuted during the City Qualifiers, two debuted during the City Finals (the back half part of the courses), and one debuted during the Las Vegas National Finals.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Slippery Summit | 5th | Miami qualifiers | Ciaran Gault | |
Fallout | 9th | Dallas finals | Jake Clark | Served to promote Mission: Impossible – Fallout. |
Cane Lane | 9th | Indianapolis finals | Kevin Brekke | Also designed Crank It Up in American Ninja Warrior 9. |
Déjà Vu | 3rd | Las Vegas national finals (Stage Two) | Kevin Carbone |
Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 10 Obstacle Design Challenge. Won the same contest the previous season by designing the Wingnuts. |
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
For the third year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 10. Just like last year, fans would create an obstacle and must submit it to the ANWNation website. The winning obstacles would set to debut on American Ninja Warrior 11.
There were six obstacles submitted from the fans, that were used on this season. Four debuted during the City Qualifiers, one debuted during the City Finals (the back half part of the courses), and one obstacle debuted during the Las Vegas National Finals.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Walk the Plank | 2nd | Los Angeles qualifiers | Jeff Thompson | |
Coconut Climb | 5th | Oklahoma City qualifiers | Till Ebener | Competed on Ninja Warrior Germany three times. |
Barrel Roll | 3rd | Seattle-Tacoma qualifiers | Tyler Rizzo | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 11 Obstacle Design Challenge. |
Slingshot | 5th | Cincinnati qualifiers | Kevin Carbone | |
Slam Dunk | 8th | Cincinnati finals | Kevin McCormack | |
Iron Summit | 2nd | Las Vegas national finals (Stage Three) | Brett Sims | Modified from his own obstacle, the Iron Maiden. |
American Ninja Warrior 12[]
For the fourth year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 11. Just like last year, fans would create an obstacle and must submit it to the ANWNation website. The winning obstacles would set to debut on American Ninja Warrior 12.
There were four obstacles submitted by fans that were used on this season. Two of them debuted during the Qualifiers and the other two debuted during the Semifinals.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Weight for It | 2nd | Qualifiers EP 1 | Unknown | |
Ring Chaser | 3rd | Qualifiers EP 1 | Kevin Carbone | |
Clockwork | 3rd | Semifinals EP 1 | Unknown | |
Corkscrew | 8th | Semifinals EP 1 | Josh Norton | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 12 Obstacle Design Challenge. |
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
For the fifth year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 12. Just like last year, fans would create an obstacle and must submit it to the ANWNation website. The winning obstacles would set to debut on American Ninja Warrior 13.
There were two obstacles submitted by fans that were used on this season. One of them were debuted in the Qualifiers rounds, and one debuted in the Las Vegas National Finals.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Air Surfer | 4th | Qualifiers EP 3 | Jennie Bensley | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 13 Obstacle Design Challenge.
Modified as the Epic Air Surfer on Stage Two. |
Stalactites | 2nd | Las Vegas national finals (Stage Three) | Christian Youst |
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
For the sixth year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 13. Just like last year, fans would create an obstacle and must submit it to the ANWNation website. The winning obstacles would set to debut on American Ninja Warrior 14.
There were four obstacles submitted by the fans used on this season. One debuted in the Qualifiers, two debuted in the Semifinals, and one debuted in the Las Vegas National Finals.
Following the shutdown of ANWNation at the beginning of 2022 prior to American Ninja Warrior 14, an official website was made to continue the challenge in future seasons.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Serpent | 3rd | Qualifiers EP 1 | Unknown | |
Ghost Town | 8th | Semifinals EP 1 | Unknown | |
Box Office | 8th | Semifinals EP 2 | Unknown (online alias known as RPG445) | |
Tetherball | 5th | Las Vegas national finals (Stage One) | Stacie Harris | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 14 Obstacle Design Challenge.
Oldest known winner of the contest at 50 years old. |
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
For the seventh year, the Obstacle Design Challenge was announced on American Ninja Warrior 14. The winning obstacles debuted on American Ninja Warrior 15.
There were two obstacles submitted by the fans used on this season. One of them debuted during the Qualifiers and the other debuted in Las Vegas national finals.
Obstacle | Position | Course Debut | Designer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Cubes | 5th | Qualifiers EP 3 | Grace Quagliata | Winner of the American Ninja Warrior 15 Obstacle Design Challenge.
Grace is from Ithaca, New York. Was 10 years old at the time of the submission. |
Pressure Cooker | 6th | Las Vegas national finals (Stage Three) | Dr. Steven Bachta | Based on a similar obstacle, Operation, used in local Ninja gyms and competitions. |
External Links[]
- https://www.americanninjawarriornation.com/pages/american-ninja-warrior-obstacle-design-challenge-rules
- Official Website
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