Max Görner "Görni" is a German Building Engineering student, a Ninja coach, and also a competitive Ninja athlete, who participated in the regular Ninja Warrior Germany Seasons 6-9, Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 2 and Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special 3 (as a part of Team Germany). In Ninja Warrior Germany, Max Görner is curently considered as one of the most successful competitors and since the performance in his debut season, Max Görner evolved from a promising young newcomer to a huge fan-favourite of the show and can be considered as the rising prodigy, due to his amazing athletic abilities and his efficiency at his young age. A lot of people even view him as the person with the greatest potential to become the second winner of the title "Ninja Warrior Germany". One major part of the reason as to why he is viewed as that was his recent success in Ninja Warrior Germany 7. There, he not only became the first Ninja Warrior Germany finalist to ever attempt the new Final Stage and also the fourth ever in the entire history of Ninja Warrior Germany to reach the Final Stage (Mount Midoriyama), but he also became the Last Man Standing of the entire season, with him getting further into the Final Stage than the other Finalist of said season, Moritz Hans, winning the cash prize of 25,000 €. Following this massive accomplishment, however, Görner's Ninja Warrior Germany career took a major turn for the worse, as in one of the most shocking moments in the show's history, he failed the very first obstacle in the Semi-finals of Ninja Warrior Germany 8. However, Görner was not deterred after this shock and quickly bounced back in the very next season by making it to the Third Stage, regaining his consistency and showing his true potential in the show once again. Apart from the regular seasons of Ninja Warrior Germany, Görner has also demonstrated great skill across his sole Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars season, making it to the Round 2 of the Finals after having fought through difficult duels and several "down to the wire" situations.
Aside from his participations in Ninja Warrior Germany, Max Görner is also known to have taken part in Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations, the first installment of Ninja Warrior France's international special post-season tournament, as a part of Team Germany.
And apart from his International Ninja show career, Görner is one of the most high-profile Elite Ninja athletes in Germany and achieved immense successes across multiple competitions since the D/A/CH German NinjaSport ranking of Let's Ninja was initiated in 2022.
The following list includes Görner's most notable past, finalized successes and statistics in the German NinjaSport:
- Inofficial German Male Ninja Sport Vice Champion of 2022 / 2nd place in the Men Division Ranking of the 2022 Let's Ninja German NinjaSport season with 4142 points (just behind Frank Schmidpeter), and 16 competitions/4 competition wins (Win Percentage: 25%).
- Inofficial German Male Ninja Sport Champion of 2023 / 1st place in the Men Division Ranking of the 2023 Let's Ninja German NinjaSport season with 1940 points (just ahead of Julian Rieger), and 11 competitions/4 competition wins (Win Percentage: 36.36%).
- 20th place in the Men Division Ranking of the 2024 Let's Ninja German NinjaSport season with 608 points, and 4 competitions/1 competition win (Win Percentage: 25%).
History[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 6[]
In 2021, Max Görner debuted in Ninja Warrior Germany, participating in the sixth season of Ninja Warrior Germany as one of the new youngsters of the season and also as the youngest competitor of the entire season, with him being only 18 years old at that time.
He first participated in the fifth Preliminary Round and would already leave a first significant mark, with him completing the obstacles of the Preliminary Round without any significant trouble and with him clearing the entire course at the end of the day, doing so with a time of 04:40.24, finishing eighth in his Preliminary Round, which meant that he would advance to the Semi-finals of the season.
Then, Max Görner took part in the second Semi-finals episode, and would complete most most of the obstacles of the Semi-finals slowly, but surely and without any trouble, with only struggling a bit on the fifth, and penultimate obstacle of the Semi-finals, the Ring Chaser and would then continue to leave a mark on his newcomer performance, with him clearing the Semi-finals course with a time of 03:26.65, finishing 18th overall in the Semi-finals of the season and advancing to the Finals of the season.
On the First Stage of the Finals of the sixth season, Görner would overcome the first two obstacles of the stage, the Archer Steps and the Lightning Bolts, without any trouble at all. After he then cleared third obstacle of the stage, the Rolling Log, however, he suffered from vertigo, that was caused by the rotation of the obstacle and lost a little bit of time overcoming the vertigo. Later, on the fifth obstacle, the Grim Sweeper, Görner would also lose a little bit of time, with him needing a few extra rotations, especially on the second blade. After that, however, he would start to make up some of the lost time and would then go on to clear the entire First Stage, doing so with 00:07.81 seconds remaining on the clock, and continuing his good newcomer performance.
On the Second Stage of the Finals of the sixth season, Görner would overcome the first three obstacles of the stage, the Burn Rubber, The Dungeon and the Trapeze Swing, surely, but also a little bit slowly, with him losing some time on the Trapeze Swing, reaching the fourth obstacle and the Ninja-Killer of the stage, the Dragonback, with about 00:55.00 seconds remaining on the clock. With his time now slowly starting to run out, Max Görner would eventually also become one of the victims of the Dragonback, with him derailing the bar from the track as he was about to slide onto the downward section of the second track, bringing his, up until that point, good newcomer performance to an end. This performance however was still good enough to make Max Görner the 16th best of the entire season.
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 2[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 7[]
In 2022, Max Görner then returned to the regular Ninja Warrior Germany competitions, participating in the seventh season of the show as one of the strong and promising youngsters of the show.
This time, he once again participated in the fifth Preliminary Round, and would start off very strong, as he completed most of the difficult obstacles of that Preliminary Round, such as Eyeglass Alley, without any significant trouble at and with good speed. And after taking a short breather after the seventh obstacle, Max Görner would then clear the Warped Wall easily, press the button and would clear the entire Preliminary Round course with a time of 02:40.43 - the second best result of the day (only behind the reigning Winner René Casselly, which meant that he would not only advance to the Semi-finals again, but would also receive the chance to compete in the Duel Course. In his first duel, which was against Dennis Leiber, Görner had a good pace throughout the first half and kept a slight lead on his opponent despite slipping off at the second set of The Clacker. Then, he extended that lead on the next obstacle (the Spring Forward) and kept a steady pace on the Chimney Climb before pressing the button first, winning the 5,000 € and advancing to the second duel, in which he would have the chance to win the Speed Pass. In that duel, Max Görner had to face none other than the reigning champion of Ninja Warrior Germany, René Casselly which he ultimately lost the race but still moved on to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, Max was once again able to beat the course (having no problems with the obstacles) and finished with just under two minutes placing 26th and moved onto the Finals' once again. On Stage One, he struggled with the Padlock (like many others) but was still able to get through it and finish the course with over 21 seconds left on the clock going back to Stage Two. On Stage Two, he was able to get his revenge and become one of seven to beat the course doing so with the fastest time of the night. On Stage Three, he was able to beat the modified Leaps of Faith becoming the fourth person to clear Stage Three in the Finals of a Ninja Warrior Germany regular season. He was the first to attempt the brand new Final Stage where he derailed the bar on the Salmon Ladder going to the seventh rung which after fellow ninja, Moritz Hans derailed at the fourth rung, Max was awarded the title of Last Man Standing.
Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special 3[]
After his superb showing in Ninja Warrior Germany 8, he was chosen as a member for Team Germany in the Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special 3. He was the first runner of Stage One where Max was once again able to beat the whole course in a minute twenty-four and he had the best result out of everyone in his heat giving Team Germany three points. On Stage Three, he was the last runner of the first heat where in a digested performance he was once again able to beat Stage Three but with a time slower than R.J. Roman so he got second in his heat but got two points for Team Germany. Team Germany would be runner-up after the runs on Stage Four by Sladjan Djulabic and Jay Lewis.
Ninja Warrior Germany 8[]
In 2023, Max Görner then returned to Ninja Warrior Germany, participating in the eighth season of Ninja Warrior Germany as the great favorite in terms of becoming the "2. Ninja Warrior Germany", and ready to defend his Last Man Standing title.
This time, he first participated in the fourth Preliminary Round (with him being the final athlete of that Preliminary Round as expected), and would leave a huge mark, as he completed all the obstacles with Preliminary Round without any trouble at all and with excellent speed. And after not even taking a short breather, Max Görner would clear the Warped Wall easily, press the button and would clear the entire Preliminary Round course with a time of just 01:21.20 - the best result of the day, which meant that he would not only advance to the Semi-finals again, but would also receive the chance to attempt the Super Salmon Ladder. There, he started off on the obstacle with a blistering pace, but started to falter at the second half of the obstacle. At the end of the day, he still cleared the Super Salmon Ladder with the second best time of 00:22.53 (behind Lukas Kilian), so he won the 2,500 € cash prize but didn’t win the Speed Pass.
Max Görner then returned and participated as the final competitor of the second and final Semi-finals episode. With the high hopes of the fellow competitors laying behind him, Max Görner started off, but would then produce one of the most shocking moments in the history of Ninja Warrior Germany, as he would slip off the fourth cone of the very first obstacle, the Hazard Cones, causing him to undershoot the suspended ring, to fail the obstacle and to end his run just 2.75 seconds after it had started. This not only meant the fourth worst result of the entire Semi-finals, but also a very early exit for the top favorite to the major shock of many. And after many speculated if his small sunglasses "prop" entrance on the starting platform (Context: Max Görner wore sunglasses on the starting platform prior to his run as a "prop" entrance) contributed to him not taking this run seriously enough, Max Görner mentioned in his post-run interview that he simply was quite nervous before his run, which contributed to him not being focused on the Hazard Cones and that he was understandably very disappointed about his exit in that season.
Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations[]
It was announced that Max had competed in the Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations with Team Germany. In the second heat, Max was the last runner and knew what he had to do and had no problems with the course he was able to beat the course leaving fifty seconds left on the clock, earning Team Germany six points, and the fastest clear time out of anyone who had attempted the course. On Stage Two, Max was the eighth runner and he had a shocking ending as he failed the Salmon Roll (an obstacle he had never attempted previously). but despite that Team Germany was still able to make it to Stage Three. On Stage Three, Max was determined to improve on his previous run but he shockingly failed the second obstacle, this time being the Slingshot as he failed the jump to the bar and jumped too low and undershot the bar, ending his run early and didn't move onto the Tour des Héroes.
Ninja Warrior Germany 9[]
In 2024, Max Görner then returned to Ninja Warrior Germany, participating in the ninth season of Ninja Warrior Germany, and aiming to take revenge on his unfortunate early exit in the Semi-finals of Ninja Warrior Germany 8. He competed in the fifth Preliminary Round, in which, despite his nervousness at the first obstacle (this time the Sonic Swing + Ring), he was able to overcome it and even the dangerous Kaleidoscope, going on to press another buzzer to qualify for the Semi-finals and to finish with a time of 01:56.46 - the best result of the day -, which gave him a shot once again at the Super Salmon Ladder and at a Speed Pass.
On the Super Salmon Ladder, he was the third of the four runners and would become the first to clear it during his Preliminary Round (the tenth person to clear the Super Salmon Ladder this season and 22nd to do so in Ninja Warrior Germany history), doing so with a time of 20.08 seconds. At the end of the day, however, the one who stole Görner's Last Man Standing title in Ninja Warrior Germany 8, Philipp Göthert, was able to clear the Super Salmon Ladder seven seconds faster than him which meant that Max didn't have the Speed Pass once again but won 2,500 €.
Following that, Max competed in the first half of the Semi-finals this time around and fortunately managed to overcome the first obstacle (this time being the Log Runner + Ring), and also the lethal Jawbreakers (which would later knock out Philipp Göthert who won the Speed Pass during his round). And while he struggled on the Water Walls to Rope Ladder due to the cold water of the Water Walls portion, he was still able to clear the entire course, doing so with a time of 02:44.60, and finishing in 20th on the final leaderboard (22nd overall).
In the First Stage, his run was inexplicably digested, but it was shown that Max was able to finish the entire course with 11.84 seconds remaining on the clock, moving onto the Second Stage for the third time in four regular seasons.
On the Second Stage, he was the first runner (and even got to attempt his favorite obstacle, the Corkscrew), and while he was cautious on the Salmon Roll and struggled a bit on Water Walls to Rope Ladder, he was able to clear the entire course with 1.79 seconds remaining on the clock, moving onto his core competency, the Third Stage.
On that Stage, he was also the first runner (and also had high hopes for himself and wanted to prove himself), got through the first four obstacles with ease and good efficiency. On the redesigned Peg Cloud however, he lost one of the pegs as it fell out of the fourth peg box and into the water because he was trying to relieve the strain he was beginning to feel in his left hand, which ultimately forced him make an unintended laché from his position to Stalactites. Due to fatigueness and the safety risks that came with this transition (such as missing the transition and hitting the edge of the pool), Max Görner did not want to risk doing the laché and then got disqualified for going back to the starting platform. And while he was a little bitter about this run as he still had enough strength to possibly make it through the stage, he still had the 7th place of the season.
Ninja Warrior France 9[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 10[]
On June 20th, 2025, Max Görner announced in this Instagram post that he opted not to compete in this season due to a severe injury in his left ankle that he sustained about two months before filming for the season commenced. In the same post, Görner explained that he felt that the aforementioned injury has simply not healed enough to start the season, and that he didn't want to take the high risk of starting with the injury. This would mark the first regular season of Ninja Warrior Germany since Ninja Warrior Germany 5 in which Max Görner didn't compete.
Results:[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
| Season | Result | Notes | Placement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Season | |||
| 6 | Failed Dragonback (Second Stage) | Fell near the downward section of the second track. Derailed the bar. |
16th | |
| 7 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Final Stage) | Failed the transition from the 6th to the 7th rung. Derailed the bar. Made it about 10 meters up the tower. Last Man Standing. |
1st | |
| 8 | Failed Hazard Cones (Semi-finals) | Failed the transition from the fourth cone to the ring. Slipped off the fourth cone and undershot the ring. First time he didn't make it to the finals in his Ninja Warrior Germany history. |
||
| 9 | Disqualified on Peg Cloud (Third Stage) | At the fifth peg box, he lost one of the pegs as it fell out of the fourth peg box and into the water, which forced him make an unintended laché from his position to Stalactites. Did not try to do the laché and got disqualified for going back to the starting platform. |
7th | |
Spin-Offs[]
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Finals, Second Duel-Round | Lost vs. Lukas Kilian. |
Supporting Formats[]
Ninja Warrior Germany: 4 Nations Special[]
| Competition | Stage | Round | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | First Stage | 1 | 1 | Clear (01:24.43) | Earned 3 points for Team Germany. |
| Third Stage | 1 | 3 | Clear | Digest. Cleared the course slower than R.J. Roman. Earned 2 points for Team Germany. |
Ninja Warrior France[]
Supporting Formats[]
Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations[]
| Competition | Stage | Round | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Stage | 2 | 5 | Clear (00:50.00 left) | Best First Stage clear time of the special. Earned 6 points for Team Germany. |
| Second Stage | - | 8 | Failed Salmon Roll (01:15.20) |
Earned 1 point for Team Germany. | |
| Third Stage | - | 3 | Failed Slingshot (00:31.00) |
Failed the trampoline jump to the bar. Jumped too low and undershot the bar. Finished outside of the Top 6 of the stage and got eliminated from the competition. |
Regular Competitions[]
| NWF | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Failed Flying Bar (Third Stage) | Failed the transition from the first to the second cradle. |
Trivia[]
- Outside of the Ninja sport, Max Görner mainly does bouldering and mountainbiking as his personal non-Ninja sports.
- Out of all the people who have achieved the Last Man Standing title in Ninja Warrior Germany, Max Görner was the youngest, with him achieving his Last Man Standing title at an age of just 19.
- Out of all the people who have never achieved a Speed Pass in their Ninja Warrior Germany career, Max Görner has achieved the best result.
- In the final Ninja Reel Talk for the seventh season of Ninja Warrior Germany, Max Görner took part, and there he mentioned the following facts regarding his favourite/least favourite things and opinions on certain topics in the Ninja sport:
- His Ninja role models are René Casselly and Moritz Hans.
- His favourite Ninja obstacle is the Corkscrew.
- His fear Ninja obstacles are balance obstacles.
- Max Görner's wingspan is 185 cm (approx. 6'1").
- He is very good friends with Frank Schmidpeter.
- He was the third (after Mathis Owhadi and Jay Lewis) teen to appear in an international competition before being followed by True Becker. Ironically, he has competed against both Lewis and Becker in two different international competitions.
- Max is the first teenager to compete in two different international competitions (Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special 3 and Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations.)
Gallery[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
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