Josh Levin is a professional rock climber from Sunnyvale, California. He first competed in American Ninja Warrior 8. He also founded the rock-climbing organization there from his childhood experience with his best friend and Ninja Warrior, Charlie Andrews.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 8[]
Josh first competed on the Los Angeles course in American Ninja Warrior 8. In qualifying, he did quite well, clearing the course and placing 12th. In the city finals, he became only the second competitor to defeat The Wedge and the only one to finish the course, placing at the top of the leaderboard.
Josh Levin at the Los Angeles Finals - American Ninja Warrior 2016
In the Vegas finals, Levin was one of the seventeen competitors to have completed Stage One, finishing with a mere 7.76 seconds remaining. Levin looked strong in Stage Two, but he failed the Double Wedge when he wasn't able to make the lache to the second bar. Levin became the top rookie that season.
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
Josh returned to compete in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 9. His qualifying run was digested, but it was shown that he finished the course, placing 15th overall. He also finished the City Finals course for the second year in a row, finishing in 4th place. Overall, Josh was one of just nine athletes that completed a city finals course that season. In the national finals, Josh had a small scare on the Propeller Bar, but ultimately finished Stage One with 14.30 seconds left. Looking eager to conquer all four stages, Levin shocked everybody when he lost his grip on the second board of the Wave Runner in Stage Two. On social media, Levin revealed that his failure was caused in part by his hand being injured; when he jumped to the Propeller Bar on Stage One, he rammed his hand on the propeller, causing it to swell up.
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
Josh returned to compete in Los Angeles for the third year in a row on American Ninja Warrior 10. In qualifying, his run was once again digested but it was shown that he finished the course with the 4th fastest time, the fastest he had ever ran in his Ninja Warrior career.
In the City Finals, Josh put up yet another strong run, finishing the course with the 3rd best time and advancing to Vegas for the third year in a row.
He was digested for the third time that season, but cleared Stage One with 16.90 seconds left. His run on Stage Two was digested a fourth time but it was shown that he failed Wingnut Alley. He later revealed that he took a lot of extra swings and almost a minute on the Epic Catch and Release and barely had enough to get through both the next two obstacles.
Josh announced on Instagram that he would not compete on American Ninja Warrior 11 so that he could train for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Sadly, Josh did not represent America, just barely missing the cut. However, Josh made a special guest appearance supporting Seth Rogers in Vegas. He was returning the favor for Seth in his rookie Vegas season after Seth did so for him in American Ninja Warrior 8.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
After taking a three-season hiatus so that he could focus on getting a master's degree, Josh returned to compete in the last qualifying episode. He was one of the many veterans that fans were anticipating to have a strong return season. His run was digested to the chagrin of many viewers, but it was shown that he once again cleared the course, this time in 16th place.
Josh then competed In the second episode of the semifinals, hoping to finish the course for the fourth year in a row. His run was somewhat sloppy at first, as he struggled to build momentum on Lunatic Ledges and slipped on the dismount of the Spinning Bridge. It's also worth noting that he was very visibly psyching himself up prior to the Spinning Bridge, taking deep, loud, heavy breaths. However, once he reached the grip-intensive Hopscotch, he began moving more fluidly, as the rest of the course played perfectly to his strengths as a speed climber. On Split Decision, Josh opted to tackle the Dragonback. He moved through it efficiently and looked poised to clear the Semifinals course once again. However, right before he was about to attempt the final ride down, the left side of the bar slipped out, resulting in his failure and the end of his three-year streak of clearing the Semifinals course. Levin still ended up placing 3rd, just missing out on the Power Tower. On a side note, Josh mentioned on Instagram that the bar on Dragonback had fractured his nose and the metal safety line connected to the bar had sliced a cut on the left side of his nose and he had to be transported to the hospital to get stitches.
At the national finals, Josh finished Stage One once again, this time with 34.70 seconds left. He was also one of the few to attempt and clear The High Road. Josh was the final runner in the first night of Stage Two, and he completed the fifth obstacle, the Hornets' Nest, for the first time. He also cleared the Falling Shelves and completed Stage Two for the first time in his career with 05.16 seconds left. On Stage Three, his climbing skills translated to the course as he cleared. Since he had the slowest time of all five Stage Three finishers, he attempted Stage Four first and he timed out 60 feet up the Rope Climb, ending his comeback and best season to date. He had the fifth best performance of the season.
On October 23rd, 2022, Levin announced on Instagram that he would be retiring from American Ninja Warrior. The post can be found here.
Trivia[]
- He, Isaac Caldiero, Drew Drechsel, Kaden Lebsack, Daniel Gil and R.J. Roman, Noah Meunier, Nacssa Garemore, Caleb Bergstrom and Vance Walker are the ten ninjas to finish Stage Three twice, while he, Isaac Caldiero, and Drew Drechsel, are the only ones who have done it during the regular season and during USA vs the World.
- He also is one of the few to clear two different versions of the Ultimate Cliffhanger.
Team Ninja Record[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Storm Team | ||||||||
| 2 | 5 (Qualifying) | Round One | 2 | Flowmingo | Alan Connealy | Loss | 0-1 | |
| 2 | 5 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 1 | Team Alpha | Dillon Gates | Loss | 0-2 | |
| 2 | 10 (Finals) | Round One | 1 | Iron Grip | Nate Burkhalter | Win | Nate injured his right arm at the Floating Tiles. | 1-2 |
| 2 | 10 (Finals) | Round Two | 1 | Think Tank | Noah Kaufman, MD | Win | Noah fell at the Swing Jump. | 2-2 |
Relay Showdown Record[]
| Season | Episode | Competitor (Obstacle Attempted) | Opponent Team | Opponent (Obstacle Attempted) | Result | Notes | Relay Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Storm Team | |||||||
| 2 | 5 (Qualifying) | Allyssa Beird (1-3) Joe Moravsky (4-6) Josh Levin (7-9) |
Karsten's Fast Kats | Joy Strickland (1-3) Kevin Klein (4-6) Karsten Williams (7-9) |
Win | Allyssa fell at the Swing Jump, resulting in a 10-second penalty for Joe. | 1-0 |
| 2 | 10 (Finals) | Allyssa Beird (1-3) Joe Moravsky (4-6) Josh Levin (7-9) |
Iron Grip | Barclay Stockett (1-3) Scott Willson (4-6) Daniel Gil (7-9) |
Win | 2-0 | |
| 2 | 11 (Finals) | Allyssa Beird (1-3) Joe Moravsky (4-6) Josh Levin (7-9) |
Team TNT | Marybeth Wang (1-3) Brett Sims (4-6) Travis Rosen (7-9) |
Champions | Marybeth fell at the Ring of Fire, resulting in a 10-second penalty for Brett. | 3-0 |
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Failed Double Wedge (Stage Two) | Transition to second bar | |
| 9 | Failed Wave Runner (Stage Two) | Lost grip on second board. Digest. | |
| 10 | Failed Wingnut Alley (Stage Two) | Digest. | |
| 14 | Failed Rope Climb (Stage Four) | Timed out. About 60 feet up. Reached the buzzer in 54.19 seconds. |
SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia Results[]
| SWNI | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| International Competition | Disqualified on Floating Boards
(Semifinal Stage 2) |
Got disqualified for grabbing the top part of the fourth board. |