Isaiah Thomas is a ninja coach from New York City (formerly Garland, Texas). He calls himself The Flyboy because of his speed. His motto is that he's "built different".
American Ninja Warrior Junior 2[]
Isaiah first competed on American Ninja Warrior Junior 2. His qualifying runs were shown in QR EP 4. In the seeding round, he defeated Aidan Welsh to advance to the knockout round in the winners' seed. There, he defeated Anabella Heinrichs to advance to the final showdown. He won the race against Emma Liskey to advance to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 record.
His quarterfinal runs were shown in QF EP 2. In his first race, he faced Blake Feero and won after Blake tripped on the trampoline of the Sky Hooks and fell. But in his second race, he lost to Kaden Lebsack after falling on the Sky Hooks himself, ending his great season.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
He returned to competition in the first qualifying episode in American Ninja Warrior 13. He completed the course with the fastest time of the night and advanced to the semifinals.
He later competed in the first semifinals episode. His run was surprisingly digested, but he made it to Split Decision and decided to go for the Tuning Forks, but he failed on that obstacle. He placed 8th overall, advancing him to the national finals.
On Stage One, he slipped on the Jumping Spider, but recovered and completed Stage One with the third fastest time of 31.12 seconds left. On Stage Two, he had troubles with the Double Salmon Ladder, but made it to Epic Air Surfer before he misjudged the first transition and fell, putting an end to his rookie season.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Isaiah competed in the fourth qualifying episode of season 14. He made quick work of the first four obstacles, but derailed on the fifth obstacle, Final Frontier. Despite this, he managed to place 10th overall and advance to the semifinals. He later competed in the fourth and last semifinals episode. At Split Decision, he chose to go for Flipped Around, and was able to complete it. He went on to complete the course in 3rd place. His run on Stage One was digested, but he shockingly failed the Jumping Spider, despite completing it the previous year.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Isaiah returned in the second qualifying episode. His run was digested, but he once again failed on the fifth obstacle, this time being Lasso Launch after the rope got caught up on the first transition. He still advanced to the semifinals placing 3rd overall.
Isaiah raced Forest Strick during the semifinals. While Forest fell on Slingshot, Isaiah cleared the course with a blazing pace, giving him a chance to race for the Safety Pass. Although the race was immensely close, his opponent, Vance Walker, hit the buzzer just before him. Nonetheless, Isaiah still advanced to the national finals for the third consecutive season.
On Stage One, he got revenge on the Jumping Spider, and later completed the course with 18.25 seconds left. On Stage Two, he went against Daniel Gil. In that race, Isaiah was trying to move quickly and he shockingly failed Jawbreakers, while Daniel made it to the Falling Shelves, ending his season once again.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Isaiah returned for his fourth season in the first qualifying round. He blazed through the course, getting revenge on Jawbreakers and completing the qualifying course for the first time since his debut, placing 3rd. Since he finished in under 1:20, he was also able to attempt the Mega Wall. Unfortunately, though he got one hand on top, he couldn't hold on, causing him to miss out on earning $20,000.
Isaiah raced Arnold Hernandez during the semifinals. The race was digested, but Arnold ended up failing Hopscotch, while Isaiah cleared the course and earned his fourth straight trip to the national finals.
His run on Stage One in Vegas was digested, but he finished the course once more, with 25.79 seconds left. On Stage Two, he raced against Elijah Browning where Isaiah once again failed Epic Air Surfer, ending his season on Stage Two for the third time.
American Ninja Warrior 17[]
Isaiah returned for his fifth season in the fourth qualifying episode, being shown as the last runner where it was revealed that he moved from Texas to New York City. Once again, he easily cleared the course, this time doing so with the fastest time of the episode, clearing in 42 seconds, which gave him another shot at the Mega Wall, and after missing it in both season 13 and 16, he got it and won $10,000, becoming the second competitor of the season to do so.
During the first round of the semifinals, Isaiah flew through the course, taking two moves on the Salmon Ladder and even dismounting early on the Doorknob Arch, but he struggled on the Invisible Ladder (even stopping twice on it) but he was able to power through and hit the buzzer with the second fastest time, becoming the first to do so this season and his fourth straight time hitting a semifinals buzzer.
At the national finals, his first race against Anabella Heinrichs was digested after she failed on the Floating Monkey Bars while Isaiah cleared the course. He then raced against Enzo DeFerrari Wilson and also won that race after he cleared the course faster than Enzo did, clearing in 46 seconds left. He then raced against Sean Bryan for his third race and also won that one as he cleared the course in 44 seconds, advancing him to the knockout rounds.
At the knockout rounds, he first raced against Taylor Greene and easily won the race after Taylor failed on the Floating Monkey Bars. He then raced against Max Feinberg. That race was digested and Isaiah won that race after Max failed on the Kickboards. He then raced against Jay Lewis and also won that race by clearing the course before Jay did. He then raced against Kai Beckstrand in arguably one of the most anticipated races of the season. There, both of them struggled with clearing the Ring Jump before Isaiah ended up falling on the top rung of the Salmon Ladder, ending his best season to date in heartbreak.
Trivia[]
- Isaiah is the first to fall the Epic Air Surfer in different seasons.
- Isaiah is the first to do so since Jamie Rahn, Karson Voiles, Drew Knapp and Josh Salinas to do so on Wingnut Alley back in American Ninja Warrior 10.
- Isaiah achieved the fastest time in any qualifying course since the reformatting of the show in American Ninja Warrior 4, as he competed the qualifying course in the fourth round in 42.42 seconds, beating Drew Drechsel's record, who cleared the Miami qualifying course in 44.24 seconds, a record which stood for almost 11 years.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Failed Epic Air Surfer (Stage Two) | ||
| 14 | Failed Jumping Spider (Stage One) | Digest. | |
| 15 | Failed Jawbreakers (Stage Two) | ||
| 16 | Failed Epic Air Surfer (Stage Two) |