Donovan Metoyer, known as the Classy Ninja, is a store manager from Kansas City, Missouri known for competing in formal clothing on the course.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 5[]
He first competed in Denver as the first runner of the night in American Ninja Warrior 5, where he failed the Rotating Bridge in qualifying.
American Ninja Warrior 6[]
Donovan returned in American Ninja Warrior 6 in St. Louis. His run was digested, but it was shown that he failed the Rope Swing Into Cargo Net in qualifying.
American Ninja Warrior 7[]
He competed again in American Ninja Warrior 7 in Kansas City. His run was digested, but it was shown that he went out on the Floating Tiles when he made a misstep and took out a hard impact on the third tile.
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
Donovan returned to compete in Kansas City in American Ninja Warrior 9, this time as a walk-on and was #15 in line. His run was cut in qualifying, but it was revealed that he failed Crank It Up, which he made to fast enough to guarantee himself 28th in the top 30. Because of this, he advanced to the city finals for the first time.
His run in the city finals was also cut, but it was revealed that he failed the Bar Hop. Since only 14 competitors completed it, Donovan's time to that point grabbed him the final spot in the top 15, which granted him his very first trip to the national finals.
In Vegas, his run was once again cut, but he failed the Double Dipper.
American Ninja Warrior 12[]
He was not selected to compete on American Ninja Warrior 10. It was revealed he tried to walk-on in Indianapolis, but was not chosen either. However, he did get to test the course. Neither was he selected to compete on American Ninja Warrior 11. He also tried to walk-on in Oklahoma City, Tacoma, and Cincinnati, but was unsuccessful.
After two years of failed walk-on attempts, he finally made his ANW return on American Ninja Warrior 12 as a member of Jamie Rahn's group. Although his run was digested, he failed his only attempt at the Mega Wall. However, he did succeed on his only attempt at the regular Warped Wall afterwards and completed the course for the first time ever. He guaranteed his trip to the semi-finals with the 7th fastest time of the night.
In the semifinals, he made it to the back half of the course for the first time ever, even doing a 360 on the Warped Wall. He then faced Corkscrew and was the first person to beat it, before falling on The Dungeon immediately after. However, this was enough to get him to the finals, as he placed 8th overall.
In the finals, Donovan was the only one to fail the Spin Hopper, and that was not enough to advance him to the Power Tower playoffs.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Donovan returned to compete on American Ninja Warrior 13 in the final qualifying episode. His qualifying run was cut, but it was revealed that he failed the fifth obstacle, Sideways. Fortunately, his fast time to the obstacle advanced him to the semifinals in the 20th spot. He later competed in the final semifinals episode. His run was digested, but since he failed on The Dungeon in the previous seasonโs semifinals, he instead chose to do the Diving Boards at Split Decision and he failed there. But he still made it far enough to place 14th overall and move on to Vegas.
He then returned for the first night of the national finals where whilst he took the slow approach on the first obstacle, he then flew across the Double Dipper that took him out back in Season 9, then he got past the next three obstacles, and pulled off another 360 on the Warped Wall. He then hit the buzzer to start the High Road where he flew across the Dipping Birds then became the only ninja in the first night of the national finals to get the ring then climbed the red ladder to hit the buzzer with a handkerchief, hitting his first buzzer of the season and his first buzzer in Las Vegas.
Donovan then returned the next week for the start of Stage Two promising the classiest Stage Two buzzer in the history of American Ninja Warrior. But he started leaning right on the Striding Steps and caught the rope with his left hand but missed with his right so he headed downward into the water ending his season.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Donovan returned for this season in the fourth qualifying episode. His run was digested, but he promised to do "something special" for the Mega Wall. He didn't get a chance to do so, as he failed on Final Frontier, once again going out on the fifth obstacle. Nevertheless, his fast time to the obstacle placed him 9th overall, advancing him to the semifinals. Donovan later competed in the fourth semifinals episode. There he opted to not do the 360 on the Warped Wall since his wanted to hit his first buzzer on a semifinals course. Then at Split Decision he almost went with Flipped Around, but his changed his mind and once again did the Diving Boards which he once again failed in nearly the exact same way. He placed 10th overall and once again advanced to the national finals.
He then returned for the first night of the national finals where his run was digested but he took the slow approach on Slide Surfer and then slipped on the Jumping Spider and then had only 50 seconds left after he completed Tetherball so he took the High Road and was the first to get it for the second season in a row and he went on to hit his first buzzer of the season.
Donovan then returned the following week for Stage Two where his run was once again digested but he got his revenge on the Striding Steps but later failed Hammer Drop after missing the grab on the rope, ending his best season to date on a rope once again.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Donovan returned to compete in the fifth qualifying round. There he was promising to do a 360 on the Mega Wall. He didn't get a chance to do so, as in a sudden turn of events, he failed on the third obstacle, Domino Effect after he stumbled on the third domino and his feet grazed the water at the end. As a result, he did not advance to the semifinals, let alone the national finals for the first time since American Ninja Warrior 7.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
After an unexpected early exit last season, Donovan returned on ANW 16 in the fifth round of qualifiers. His run was digested, but it was shown that he completed the course with the 4th fastest time. In the semifinals, Donovan raced against Scott Behrends. Both of them made it passed the first 4 obstacles, but after seeing Scott falling on Spin Hopper, that gave the win to Donovan, since he completed the previous one first. But he decided to continue to finish the course, which included passing the obstacle that took him out in the finals of ANW 12, which he did, once again advancing to the national finals, and the first time that he hit a semifinals buzzer.
He returned for the first half of the National Finals on Stage One in a digested performance for American Ninja Warrior 16, where he shockingly failed the Jumping Spider, marking the first time since American Ninja Warrior 9 that his season ended on Stage One.
Donovan is set to compete in American Ninja Warrior 17.
Trivia[]
- He attended SASUKE 41 to cheer on Daniel Gil, who was competing on that tournament.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
ANW | # | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
9 | Failed Double Dipper (Stage One) | All cut. | |
13 | Failed Striding Steps (Stage Two) | ||
14 | Failed Hammer Drop (Stage Two) | Digest. | |
16 | Failed Jumping Spider (Stage One) | Digest. |