Benjamin "Benni" Grams (ベンジャミン・グラムズ), also known by his second nickname Speedy Gonzales, is a German professional Parkour & Freerunning athlete, fitness trainer and Freelancer who participated in many Ninja Warrior Germany competitions. These include the regular Ninja Warrior Germany Seasons 1-3, 5-6 & 8, Team Ninja Warrior Germany 1 (with his Team One Spirit), Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special (as a part of Team Germany) and Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 1 & 2. In all the competitions of Ninja Warrior Germany, Benjamin Grams is always one of the most notable and skillful names, and is even more well-known as one of the speed demons of the show (hence the nickname Speedy Gonzales), usually finishing courses with the top clear times. And while he lived up to his potential & saw great levels of success in the earlier seasons of the show, as he reached the Third Stage in both Ninja Warrior Germany 2 & 3, he never managed to reach that levels of success in the more recent seasons. Following his break from competition during Ninja Warrior Germany 4, he unfortunately failed the First Stage twice in a row. His true potential, however, could also be seen in both Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars seasons, as he managed to progress deep in the Finals on both occasions.
Aside from his participations in Ninja Warrior Germany, Grams is also known to have participated in World Chase Tag. There, he ran alongside his good friend Andreas Wöhle in their team Ashigaru, and met other parkour & freerunning athletes who are also well-known Ninja Warrior/SASUKE competitors, including Satō Jun & Kimoto Takafumi.
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 1[]
In 2016, Benjamin Grams participated in the first ever season of Ninja Warrior Germany. He first participated in the second Preliminary Round and would already leave a first small mark by having a speed start across the first two obstacles of the course, the Quintuple Steps and the Curtain Slider, clearing them in just about 10 seconds. Following that, he would also go on to clear the other obstacles of that Preliminary Round without any significant trouble and at a blistering pace, with him clearing the entire course with a time of just 01:24.40, finishing first by far in his Preliminary Round, which meant that he would advance to the Finals Qualification of the season. There, with him now being considered as one of the favourites of the season, Grams was the last competitor to attempt the second Finals Qualification course of the season and would once again demonstrate a speedy start on the first obstacle of the course, the Downhill Pipe Drop. However while his run started with a lot of speed, it ended just as fast, with him rushing into the second obstacle (the Spinning Bridge) and then falling between the 3rd and the 4th ball. This meant that he would finish in 18th in his Finals Qualification, not only ending his run 6.9 seconds after it started, but also unfortunately bringing his entire season to an early end to the shock of many.
Ninja Warrior Germany 2[]
Team Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 3[]
Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 5[]
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 6[]
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 2[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 8[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 9[]
SASUKE[]
SASUKE World Cup[]
On July 10th, 2024, upon the official announcement of the SASUKE World Cup 1, it was confirmed that Grams was one of the representatives of Team Germany for the sepcial, marking his first appearance in an international special competition since the Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special. In the First Stage, he was the second competitor in the second heat, and it was hoped that he would bring Team Germany back to the top of the leaderboard again after René Casselly's early exit in the heat prior to his run. His run was mid-cut during the official broadcast, and Grams had reached the fifth obstacle, the Twin Dia, with a good time of about 35 seconds. However, he did not make the same mistake as Casselly and cleared the Twin Dia despite a slight stumble on the transition between the two diamonds. Following that, he demonstrated his excellent speed and pushed through the next two obstacles, the Dragon Glider and the Tackle without stopping, reaching the final obstacle (the Soritatsu Kabe) with 65 seconds on the clock. And after stumbling on his first attempt (possibly due to the pump in his legs), he scaled the wall without a problem on his second try, pressing the button and clearing the First Stage with a time of 77.64 seconds - the best result of his heat, which earned his team 70 points. However, despite Grams great effort and the fact that he acquired the best First Stage result of Team Germany, it was unfortunately still not enough for Team Germany at the end of the day, as Grams fellow memebers did not achieve enough points to grant the team a spot in the Top 5, as they placed in 6th, meaning that Team Germany got eliminated after just First Stage and would leave the competition as second to last.
Trivia[]
- Benjamin Grams favourite Ninja Warrior obstacles are the Double Dipper, the Chimney Climb and all the obstacles that include a Spider Walk portion.
- While his least favourite Ninja Warrior obstacles are the Salmon Ladder, Flying Bar, Cliffhanger and the grip/fingertip strength intensive obstacles in general.
- On May 8th 2023, Benjamin Grams started a Bikepacking journey from deepest south to high up in the North Cape of Norway. On June 20th, 2023 , Grams announced on his Instagram account that he finally reached his goal and arrived at the North Cape of Norway after cycling more than 4000 km (approx. 2485 miles).
Results:[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
| NWG | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Failed Spin Bridge (Finals Qualifications 2) | Fell between the 3rd and the 4th ball. 18th best of the Finals Qualification. |
| 2 | Failed Floating Boards (Third Stage) | Failed the transition from the fourth board to the safe ground. 3rd best of the season. |
| 3 | Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage) | Failed the transition to the fourth ledge. 4th best of the season. |
| 5 | Failed Grim Sweeper to Cargo (First Stage) | Failed the transition from the second to the third blade. Barely caught the blade with his right hand and failed to properly hold onto it.
21st best of the season. |
| 6 | Failed Jumping Spider to Wave Runner (First Stage) | Rushed and failed the transition to the Wave Runner portion. 36th best of the season. |
| 8 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Semi-finals) | Failed the transition from the third to the fourth rung. Derailed the bar. 21st best of the Semi-finals Episode 2. 53rd best of the Semi-finals. |
| 9 | Failed Swing Arm + Rope Maze (Swing Arm Portion) (Preliminary Round 1) |
Failed the dismount from the roller post to the safety platform. Tried to dismount without using the rope of the Swing Arm, landed on the edge of the platform and then fell off. Marked his shortest run in Ninja Warrior Germany history. Placed 14th and didn’t move onto the Semi-finals. |
Spin-Offs[]
Team Ninja Warrior Germany[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Team: One Spirit (Benjamin Grams, Andreas Wöhle, Silke Sollfrank) | ||
| 1 | Finals, Final Relay Qualification | His team lost vs. Team Magic Monkeys. In his race vs. Simon Brunner, both him and Brunner failed the Salmon Ladder, but since Brunner reached the obstacle earlier, his team won the relay and Grams's team was eliminated from the competition. |
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finals, Round 1 (First Duel-Round) | Lost vs. Kim Marschner. |
| 2 | Finals, Round 3 (Super Salmon Ladder) | Failed the transition from the 20th to the 21st rung. 5th best of the season. |
Supporting Formats[]
Ninja Warrior Germany: 4 Nations Special[]
| Competition | Stage | Round | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Second Stage | 1 | 4 | Failed Hourglass Drop (02:10.18) |
Disqualification. Got disqualified for jumping to the landing platform without using the second board. Earned 3 points for Team Germany. |
SASUKE[]
SASUKE World Cup[]
| Competition | Stage | Heat | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Stage | 2 | 2 | Clear (77.64) | Mid-Cut. Earned 70 points for Team Germany. |
Gallery[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
SASUKE[]
SASUKE World Cup[]
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