Kai Beckstrand is a 19-year old EMT from St. George, Utah. He is most notably known, along with his dad Brian Beckstrand, for being the first father and son duo to hit a qualifying buzzer.
American Ninja Warrior Junior[]
American Ninja Warrior Junior[]
Kai first competed in the inaugural season of American Ninja Warrior Junior in the 11-12 age division. His qualifying runs were shown in Episode 10. In the seeding round, he defeated Brycen Tablit and advanced to the knockout round in the winners' seed. There, he defeated Sienna McEneaney to advance to the final showdown. There, in a rematch against Brycen Tablit, he won his third straight race, moving on to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, he first faced and defeated Daniel Martin to advance to the top 8. Then, he won against Hans Hertz, sending him to the finals.
In the finals, he first faced Ella McRitchie and won against her to advance to the championship race. Then, he faced Tate Allen and won against him, becoming the first 11-12 champion of American Ninja Warrior Junior and winning $15,000.
American Ninja Warrior Junior 2[]
Kai returned for American Ninja Warrior Junior 2, this time in the 13-14 age division. His qualifying runs were shown in QR EP 10. In the seeding round, he defeated Zach Hammer to advance to the knockout round in the winners' seed once again. There, he faced and defeated Katie Bone. Then, in the final showdown, he won the rematch against Zach Hammer, sending him to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, he first faced and defeated Joaquin Rayford to advance to the top 8. There, he won against Sophia Lavallee, sending him to the finals. However, in the finals, he faced Kaden Lebsack and fell at the Crazy Cliffhanger, ending his season. Still, he landed in 4th place overall for the season, winning $2,500.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Kai later appeared on the fifth qualifying episode of American Ninja Warrior 13. Running after his dad Brian Beckstrand, he not only completed the course with the fastest time that night, but he had the fastest time (1:36.83) out of all five qualifying rounds.
Both Kai and his dad then competed on the fourth semifinal episode. Whereas Brian failed the fifth obstacle and did not advance, Kai was able to punch his ticket to the national finals. He was shown that he got fatigued on The Dungeon, but was eventually able to clear it. That night, he completed the course in 4:56.17 and placed 5th overall, therefore moving onto the Las Vegas National Finals.
Kai's Stage One run was digested, but it was shown that he cleared the course with 17.71 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, on Stage Two, he fell on the Striding Steps, ending his rookie season in a digested performance.
American Ninja Warrior: Family Championship[]
Kai returned in the very first Family Championship alongside his Mom & Dad. The first round ended with a perfect score; all of them completed their obstacles. Though only Kai and Brian completed all of their obstacles in the second round, the Beckstrand family qualified for the Power Tower playoffs. Facing off against the Heinrichs family, they bested them in their first race, but in the second, shockingly lost to the Auer family, ending up as the runners up.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
After missing the previous season, Kai returned in the second qualifier episode. There, he had a solid run as he completed Ring the Bells which knocked out his dad earlier and later finished the course in under a minute. As such, he was able to attempt the Mega Wall and he successfully cleared it, earning $10,000 and for the second straight time in qualifying, he got the fastest time in all the rounds of qualifying.
He later competed in the first semifinal episode, where he raced against James Wilson. While James failed on Beehive, Kai cleared the course with the fastest time, advancing to the Safety Pass race. Though he lost to Kaden Lebsack, it was an immensely close race, and Kai still advanced to the national finals.
Unfortunately, to the shock of everyone and especially himself, Kai fell on the Jumping Spider on Stage One when he went too fast going into the chute, causing his right foot to land ahead of the left and ultimately being able to stick the jump, ending his sophomore season in heartbreak in what was perhaps one of the biggest shocks of the season, as proclaimed by Matt Iseman.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Kai returned in the fifth round of qualifying. This time, he competed alongside his brother Luke Beckstrand and his mother Holly Beckstrand. He blew through the course with the fastest time of 1:06.03, earning him another chance at the Mega Wall, and he completed it for the second season in a row, this time winning $20,000.
Kai later competed in the first semifinal episode, where he raced against Jesse Maurer. Kai easily won the race by clearing the course in just 36 seconds while Maurer failed the Spin Hopper, once again clearing with the fastest time and advancing to the Safety Pass race, with was a rematch against Kaden Lebsack. Kai won it after Kaden took a extra back swing on the Wingnuts and thus Kai advanced to the national finals for the third time with the Safety Pass this time around.
He returned for the first half for the National Finals during Stage One. This time, Kai got his revenge on the Jumping Spider. He learned from his mistake from last season, taking a quick breath before attempting it so that he wasn't rushing the jump. He later continued on his way to hit another Stage One buzzer with 43 seconds left on the clock, moving onto Stage Two once again. He didn’t need to use the Safety Pass this time around,
In Stage Two, Kai raced against Sean Bryan. He linked through the final two obstacles, the Epic Air Surfer and Falling Shelves, allowing him to clear the stage in a faster time than Sean and guaranteeing him a spot in Stage Three along with the fastest time of the night on Stage Two. Sean later raced against James McGrath as one of the Top 4 Non-Winners brackets and guaranteed himself a spot by winning that race.
On Stage Three, Kai breezed through the first few obstacles and became the heaviest competitor to clear the Ultimate Cliffhanger. He became just the second competitor in the broadcast to clear the new obstacle, Pizza Party. Kai easily made it through the Pressure Cooker and was the first competitor shown to clear the Road Signs. Kai became the first competitor shown in the broadcast to clear Stage Three and make it to Stage Four.
Kai was then the first out of five finalists to run Stage Four. He ended up timing out around the 70 feet mark. He reached the buzzer in just under 50 seconds, ending his best season to date. He had the worst result out of the five Stage Four finalists, but ultimately ended with the fifth best performance of the season overall.
American Ninja Warrior 17[]
Kai returned in the fifth qualifying episode where he was the final runner of the night. Although he did have a little trouble with the first wheel on the Ferris Wheel, he once again flew through the course, beating his brother for the fastest time of the night and earning another shot at the Mega Wall. He was once again able to conquer the Mega Wall and win another $10,000, clearing it for the third straight year.
Kai later competed in the second semifinals episode. There, despite some struggles on the Invisible Ladder, he once again cleared the semifinals course, this time doing so with the 2nd fastest time behind his brother Luke, once again advancing to the national finals.
At the national finals, Kai won his first race against Jessie Graff by clearing the course in 57 seconds while Jessie failed on Piston Plunge. His second race against Donovan Metoyer was digested, and he also won that race by clearing the course faster than Donovan did. His third race against Isabella Folsom was also digested, and he also won that race by clearing the course in 44 seconds while Isabella failed on the Swinging Frames, advancing him to the knockout rounds.
At the knockout rounds. He once again raced against Isabella Folsom and he once again won the race by clearing the course before she did. He then raced against David Bergstrom-Wright in the round of 16 and lost that race by clearing the course while David failed on the Kickboards. He then raced against his brother Luke in the round of 8. There, Luke managed to get a lead at the Ring Jump as Kai survived a close call on the Floating Monkey Bars. Then Kai caught up to Luke at the Kickboards and won the race after linking his moves on the Falling Shelves and won the race. He then raced against Isaiah Thomas in an anticipated race. There, they both got hung up a bit on the Ring Jump before Isaiah ended up falling on the Salmon Ladder while Kai stopped after he cleared The Clacker, earning a spot in the finals. There he raced against Noah Meunier in the final race of the season and he won the race after Noah failed on the Falling Shelves. Thus, Kai won the ANW17's trophy and also took home $250,000.
Trivia[]
- Kai is the first competitor to finish both the qualifying and semifinals courses in under a minute.
- Kai holds the record with 36 seconds to finish a semifinals course and holds the record with 34 seconds to complete a Safety Pass race.
- Kai is one of six to conquer the semifinals course under a minute in American Ninja Warrior 15.
- Kai is one of thirteen to conquer the semifinals course in under a minute in American Ninja Warrior 16.
- Kai is the first to conquer the semifinals course under a minute in back-to-back seasons.
- Kai and his brother Luke are the second brother duo to move onto Vegas (after Chris and Brian Wilczewski), but they are the first brother duo to hit a Stage One buzzer together.
- He is the eighth (and thus far final) ninja after Jonathan Brown during ANW6 Miami Qualifying, Drew Drechsel in ANW6 Miami Qualifying, Kevin Bull in ANW7 Venice Beach Qualifying, Lorin Ball in ANW7 Kansas City Qualifying, and Jake Murray in ANW12 Qualifying to finish a qualifying course in under a minute.
- Kai became the fourth ninja to conquer the Mega Wall three times, right behind Daniel Gil, Joe Moravsky, and Caleb Bergstrom. He is also the second competitor after Moravsky to clear the Mega Wall in three consecutive seasons, as well as the first to clear the 18'5 height three times.
- He is the first champion to hit nine buzzers beating Drew Drechsel who held it with eight.
- Kai is the first since Isaac Caldiero (excluding Vance Walker's second Total Victory win) to not hit the water in his winning season.
- He has hit 20 buzzers in his ninja career (if Ninja Junior and the Family Championship counted, he has 37 buzzers).
- Kai although he did not achieve Total Victory in the traditional sense, he is the fourth winner to fail the Jumping Spider one season and win in another following Isaac Caldiero, Geoff Britten, and Vance Walker.
- Kai announced on Instagram that he was married on October 18th, 2025.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Failed Striding Steps (Stage Two) | Digest. | |
| 15 | Failed Jumping Spider (Stage One) | ||
| 16 | Failed Rope Climb (Stage Four) | Time Out. Reached the buzzer in 49.75 seconds. | |
| 17 | Champion |