Noah Kaufman, MD, is an ER physician and elite Rock Climber who first competed in American Ninja Warrior 5.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 5[]
In his debut season on American Ninja Warrior 5, he impressed everyone before he even took on the Venice qualifying course by reducing Alan Connealy's dislocated shoulder which was televised. He then sailed through the qualifying course with much enthusiasm; making it look easy. He aced the Warped Wall and even gave a memorable and ecstatic one-arm turn around victory fist-pump to which the crowd went wild. In the Venice city finals, he made it up the 5th rung of the Salmon Ladder with ease, but then made a premature transition to the Rope Maze, which was not allowed. His fellow competitors shouted at him to go up to the 6th rung, which he managed to do, but lost his grip, not making the top 15.
He did, however, move on to the national finals in Las Vegas as a wildcard. He appeared thinner and more fit, cruised through the first five obstacles but ran into a little bit of trouble on the Warped Wall, needing two attempts to clear it. Nevertheless, he was able to finish Stage 1 with only 14.10 seconds to spare. On Stage Two, when he reached the Double Salmon Ladder, he failed the transition to the second ladder, ending his impressive rookie season.
American Ninja Warrior 6[]
In American Ninja Warrior 6, he competed in Denver and finished the qualifying course, placing 19th. In the city finals, he nearly fell on the Quintuple Steps, but managed to recover before his foot would have otherwise splashed the water. He then got his revenge on the Salmon Ladder and ended up finishing the Denver city finals course placing 5th.
He later formed a four man group called the Denver Wolfpack which consists of Brian Arnold, Isaac Caldiero, Ian Dory and himself. All of them completed Stage One, but none of them completed Stage Two. He was able to clear the Double Salmon Ladder, which took him out the year before, only to fail the next obstacle, the Unstable Bridge, similar to Brian Arnold earlier that night.
American Ninja Warrior 7[]
He competed once again in American Ninja Warrior 7 in Kansas City where he cleared the qualifying course, placing 36th out of the 38 finishers. In the city finals, he was flirting with disaster as he nearly failed the Big Dipper. However, in an unbelievable shock, he couldn't grab onto the log on the modified Bungee Road and slipped, ending his season early, placing 32nd overall. This ended up being the second time he failed a city finals course, but the first time he failed to qualify for the national finals. He was later seen supporting his other Wolfpack members in the Las Vegas national finals.
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
He was not selected for American Ninja Warrior 8, being one of the many veterans who were not invited back for that season. He then returned in American Ninja Warrior 9 in Denver. However, in qualifying, he failed the Bouncing Spider after getting shot forward by the trampoline. This became the first time in his career where did not complete a qualifying course, let alone make the top 30.
In January of 2018, he announced his retirement from the show and that he was going to stay with the Wolfpack training, but reflected on his time on the show with praise.
Team Ninja Competitions[]
,_Matt_Wilder_and_Asya_Grechka_(Team_Ninja_Warrior_Season_2)..JPG){kind=link}
Think Tank's Team Ninja Warrior 2 lineup
Noah has been the team captain of the Think Tank, a ninja team on American Ninja Warrior's team ninja competition spinoffs. They've competed in both seasons of Team Ninja Warrior, as well as the first season of American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja. His record is 2-5 across the three tournaments combined.
Team Ninja Record[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Think Tank | ||||||||
| 1 | 4 (Qualifying) | Round One | 3 (Anchor Run) | Wild Bunch | Lance Pekus | Win | 1-0 | |
| 1 | 4 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 3 (Anchor Run) | Karsonic Boom | Karson Voiles | Loss | 1-1 | |
| 2 | 3 (Qualifying) | Round One | 1 | Superhero Squad | Sean Darling-Hammond | Loss | 1-2 | |
| 2 | 3 (Qualifying) | Round Two | 1 | Average JoJo's | Jimmy Bogle Jr. | Win | Jimmy fell at the Floating Tiles. | 2-2 |
| 2 | 10 (Finals) | Round One | 1 | Team Ronin | JJ Woods | Loss | 2-3 | |
| 2 | 10 (Finals) | Round Two | 1 | Storm Team | Josh Levin | Loss | Noah fell at the Swing Jump. | 2-4 |
| 3 | 8 (Qualifying) | First Matchup | 3 | Phoenix Force | Najee Richardson | Loss | 2-5 | |
Relay Showdown Record[]
| Season | Episode | Competitor (Obstacle Attempted) | Opponent Team | Opponent (Obstacle Attempted) | Result | Notes | Relay Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Think Tank | |||||||
| 1 | 4 (Qualifying) | Asya Grechka (1-3) Matt Wilder (4-6) Noah Kaufman, MD (7-9) |
Team Ronin | Tiana Webberley (1-3) JJ Woods (4-6) Flip Rodriguez (7-9) |
Loss | 0-1 | |
| 2 | 3 (Qualifying) | Asya Grechka (1-3) Noah Kaufman, MD (4-6) Matt Wilder (7-9) |
Superhero Squad | Rachael Goldstein (1-3) Sean Darling-Hammond (4-6) Jamie Rahn (7-9) |
Win | Both Sean and Noah fell at the Bar Hop. Therefore, Jamie and Matt resumed the relay after a 5-second countdown. | 1-1 |
| 3 | 8 (Qualifying) | Leila Noone (1-2) Noah Kaufman, MD (3-4) Matt Wilder (5-6) |
Phoenix Force | Cassie Craig (1-2) Michael Torres (3-4) Najee Richardson (5-6) |
Loss | 2-1 | |
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Failed Double Salmon Ladder (Stage Two) | Competed as Wild Card. Transition to the second ladder. | |
| 6 | Failed Unstable Bridge (Stage Two) | Lost his grip on second board. |