Philipp Göthert (フィリップ・ゲーテルト) is a German (currently residing in Austria) Computer Science student, and also a sports-competitive climber, who participated in 5-10, Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 1 & 2 and SASUKE World Cup 1.
In Ninja Warrior Germany, Philipp Göthert is considered as one of most notable, well-known and experienced names, and since his newcomer performance in Ninja Warrior Germany 5, he has taken a huge leap forward, evolving from one of the rising young stars of Ninja Warrior Germany to one of the strongest, best and most successful Ninja Warrior Germany competitors of all time. In fact, in the regular sector of of the show, Göthert is currently considered by several Ninja Warrior Germany fans as the biggest threat to become the next "Ninja Warrior Germany", due to his ambitious & composed spirit both on and off the course, his strict training routine and his incredible mixture of finger-grip strength, efficiency and explosive strength. And even though he has always seen had some rocky starts and fails in the earlier stages of his regular seasons, the Preliminary Rounds and Semi-finals, Göthert showed that he could perform on an all-star level once it matters the most, namely in the Finals stages, and has not only demonstrated a professional-like efficiency, but also proved to arguably be the most consistent and accomplished competitor, achieving six consecutive First Stage clears in a row, six consecutive Second Stage clears in a row and six consecutive Third Stage (Ninja Warrior Germany) appearances in a row and holding a 100% clear rate in both the first two stages. And while was already impressive in his early regular seasons (5-7) and in the start of the "modern" era of Ninja Warrior Germany (Ninja Warrior Germany 9), his true golden moments arrived in Ninja Warrior Germany 8 & Ninja Warrior Germany 10/The First Anniversary Season. In each of these seasons, Göthert incredibly became the sole Third Stage finisher, subsequently achieving the title of Last Man Standing + the corresponding cash prize of 25,000 €, advancing to the Final Stage (Mount Midoriyama). In addition, he became both the fifth person to reach the Final Stage (Ninja Warrior Germany 8) and the third person to reach the Final Stage twice (Ninja Warrior Germany 10). And while he unfortunately ended up missing out on achieving his ultimate dream, Total Victory + the title of "Ninja Warrior Germany" and the grand winner cash prize of 300,000 €, in both of the seasons, with him timing out on the Rope Climb in Ninja Warrior Germany 8 and failing the Salmon Ladder in Ninja Warrior Germany 10 respectively, he still cemented his status one of the most accomplished, skillful and notable competitors in the history of Ninja Warrior Germany and showed as to why so many fans of Ninja Warrior Germany believe that he is to be considered as the most major threat to win the title of "2. Ninja Warrior Germany" in the future.
Sports Background[]
Philipp Göthert is both a sports and a competitive climber who specializes in bouldering and lead climbing.
History[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 5[]
In 2020, Philipp Göthert debuted in Ninja Warrior Germany at the age of 19 years, participating in the fifth season of Ninja Warrior Germany as one of the few new youngsters of the season. He first participated in the first Preliminary Round of the season and would clear the first four obstacles of that course without any significant trouble. Following that, he struggled a little bit on the pipe of fifth obstacle, the Bouncing Spider, after jumping onto the supertramp from a rather high point of the Spider Walk section, which resulted in him grabbing the pipe at a rather low point. Despie this, however, he struggled free and managed to reach the next obstacle, the iconic Salmon Ladder. On that obstacle, however, he derailed the bar at the transition to the 4th rung after not pulling up the right half of the bar high enough. Despite this failure, Göthert still finished in 12th in his Preliminary Round, which meant that he would advance to the Semi-finals of the season.
In the Semi-finals, he competed in the first episode where he flew across the difficult course and beating the final obstacle, Double Dipper to Cargo Net which knocked out a lot of ninjas and he finished the course in eleventh place moving onto in his rookie season to the First Stage.
On Stage One, he made it past the difficult Lightning Bolts which knocked out a lot of top ninjas along with the Grim Sweeper to Cargo with a very close call to conquer the course with just four seconds left on the clock. On Stage Two, he was the first runner of the night where he gave a clinic on how to defeat the course including the Criss Cross Salmon Ladder on his way to defeat the Second Stage as a rookie with just over 12 seconds left on the clock moving onto the Third Stage. On Third Stage, his rookie season ended on the first obstacle, the Floating Boards where he failed the transition to the second board ending a breakout rookie season and placed 12th in the season.
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 1[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 6[]
He returned as a favorite to win the title in the sixth Preliminary Round where he got through tough obstacles like Spring Forward and Weight for It on his way to hit the buzzer with the fastest time of the night going to the Power Tower where Philipp raced against the fourth fastest finisher, David Eilenstein which he won and in the final heat went against the third fastest finisher, Malte Komm where Philipp also won that race winning the Speed Pass for his preliminary round.
Philipp then returned in the second half of the Semi-finals. Due to the fact that he was one of the Speed Pass winners, he knew that he could throw caution to the wind and could take risks. With the Top 3 cash prizes being on his mind, he progressed quickly on the Rib Run and the Wingnuts, reaching the fourth obstacle, the Criss Cross Salmon Ladder, with a time of just 32 seconds on the clock. And after he cleared that obstacle without any trouble, he rocketed across the very next obstacle, the Ring Chaser, as he caught the bigger ring and immediately put it on the first hook easily. With the top clear time in sight, he wanted to attempt the transition to the second hook quickly, but he was swinging diagonally, so he hesitated at the very last second and unfortunately had so much momentum that he pushed the ring off the hook sending himself into the water and shockingly ending his quest for a buzzer. He still moved on to the Finals due to having the Speed Pass.
In his next attempt at the First Stage, he had few problems with the course and had way more time left on the clock this time than last, leaving 13 seconds on the clock and going back to Second Stage. Despite struggling with Dragonback, he quickly climbed the Spider Trap to make it to the buzzer leaving just under 9 seconds left on the clock going back to the Third Stage. In his second attempt at the Third Stage, he got his revenge on the Floating Boards and conquered Cane Lane which knocked out a lot of ninjas but on the third obstacle, the Cliffhanger he failed the jump to the fourth ledge and failed to hold onto it ending another suberb season where he placed 3rd of the season right behind Moritz Hans and René Casselly.
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 2[]
Ninja Warrior Germany 7[]
He returned in the fourth preliminary round where Philipp conquered new obstacles, Floating Steps + Overpass and Swing Arm but on V Formation he made it almost to the end but his grip gave out holding onto the fourth v handle, ending his hunt for another qualifier buzzer but moving onto the Semi-finals in 13th place.
Philipp competed in the first Semi-finals round, defeating new obstacles such as Slide Surfer to Ring along with the Swinging Blades and made it all the way to the buzzer finishing with 02:00.00 and moving back to First Stage in 27th place.
On the First Stage, he had some trouble with Padlock but got through it but made it all the way to the seventh obstacle, Cliffhanger where he struggle with the reaches but still got through and conquered the course with just under two seconds remaining moving onto the Second Stage.
On the Second Stage, he made it through new obstacles such as Hazard Cones, Corkscrew, and Falling Shelves on his way to hit his third straight Stage Two buzzer with 15 seconds left going back to Stage Three.
His true potential was shown when Philipp faced the difficult Stage Three where he made it past the Inverter before attempting the harder Leaps of Faith where he made it all the way to the blind grab (transition to the fourth handholds) coming up with inches of grabbing it but fell into the water and got the 5th best of the season.
Ninja Warrior Germany 8[]
In 2023, Philipp Göthert returned to Ninja Warrior Germany as one of the fan-favourites, participating in the eighth season of Ninja Warrior Germany, ready to achieve his goal of progressing even further than in the previous season and reaching the Final Stage.
This time, he first participated in the third Preliminary Round, and would clear the first two obstacles of that Preliminary Round (the Quintuple Steps and the Walk the Plank) without any problem. On the third obstacle of that course (the Carnival), he had his first problem, as he tried to reach over to the element on his first go (without doing a laché), but failed and then had to absorb the pressure of the backswing which consumed some of his stamina. After clearing the Spin Zone and the Swing Arm, Philipp Göthert then reached the sixth and second to last obstacle of the Preliminary Round (the Beehive). On that obstacle however, he majorly struggled, with him making the exact above mentioned mistake that he already did on the Carnival again, and with him having trouble to rotate the second beehive into place. And these mistakes then proved to be fatal, as to the shock of many, Phillip Göthert failed the Beehive by failing to hold onto the third beehive. However despite this rather shocking failure, Göthert still finished in 12th in his Preliminary Round, which meant that he would barely scrape through and would advance to the Semi-finals of the season.
Philipp Göthert then returned in the second and final Semi-finals episode, and would complete the first three obstacles (Hazard Cones, Wall to Wall & Salmon Ladder) of the course without any trouble. On the fourth obstacle, the modified Lightning Bolts, however, Göthert transferred his rather rocky start from the Preliminary Round over to the Semi-finals as well and pulled the right side of the bar off the front side of the third cradle, causing him to derail the bar completely, to fail the obstacle and to end his run. At the end of the Semi-finals, he still finished in 19th on the overall leaderboard, meaning that he would advance to the Finals for the fourth straight regular season.
After that, Göthert returned for the very difficult First Stage. With many people hoping that he would break the streak of failures and would become the first finisher of that stage, Philipp Göthert started off and fought through the first three obstacles, also clearing the first Ninja-Killer, the Salmon Roll, without losing too much time. After he then had a close call on the fourth obstacle (the Despicaballs), he cleared the Swing Arm (obstacle no.5) without any trouble and reached the second crux of that stage, the Pole Grasper. There however, Göthert managed to defy the odds and became the first person of that night to clear the laché from the first to the second set of poles, and to reach the seventh final obstacle of the stage, the Warped Wall. With less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Göthert would then also clear the Warped Wall easily, press the button and clear First Stage with 00:06.76 seconds remaing, which meant that he would be the first person to clear that stage and that he would increased his amount of consecutive First Stage clears to four.
On his fourth straight attempt at the Second Stage, for the fourth time he conquered the course with just over five seconds remaining going back to the Third Stage. After three straight times of failing the Third Stage, this stage was equipped specifically for his strength as a rock climber as he flew across V Formation (getting his revenge from last year’s qualifying round) and defeating the new Cliffhanger 3.0 on his way to hit the buzzer, getting his first Third Stage buzzer and being the sole finisher.
At his first attempt at the Final Stage, Philipp became the first to conquer the Final Stage’s Salmon Ladder in Germany and made it to the Rope Climb where he timed out at the halfway point but made it to the buzzer eight seconds after the timeout but still won 25,000 € as the Last Man Standing.
SASUKE World Cup[]
On July 10th, 2024, upon the official announcement of the SASUKE World Cup 1, it was confirmed that Göthert participated in the special as one of the representatives of Team Germany, marking his first appearance in an international special competition. He was the fourth competitor in the fifth and final heat of the First Stage, and his run was the make or break, Team Germany's last hope of advancing to the Second Stage. His run was mid-cut during the official broadcast, but it was shown that Philipp had reached the fourth obstacle, the Fish Bone, with a decent time of about 30 seconds. On the Fish Bone however, Göthert had a very shaky start going into the obstacle. And by the time he had fought his way up to the fourth pedestal, he lost his balance entirely and grabbed and held onto one of the rotating poles just to save himself, which is not allowed, meaning that he got shockingly disqualified. At the end of the day, this failure proved to be the coup de grace for his team, as Göthert's result meant last place in the fifth heat, which in turn meant penultimate place overall on the First Stage for Team Germany (as Team France then had earned the same amount of points and got ranked higher due to the higher number of finishers), bringing Göthert and his team's journey to an end. Afterwards, this YouTube video revealed interesting information about this disqualification that was not shown in the official broadcast. Apparently, Göthert had misunderstood the rules of the Fish Bone and thought that competitors were allowed to hold on to a rotating pole as long as their feet were still on the obstacle. After Philipp Göthert initially appealed against the disqualification, director Masato Inui resolved the situation and informed him of the reason for his disqualification, which Göthert accepted.
Ninja Warrior Germany 9[]
In the ninth season of Ninja Warrior Germany, in 2024, Philipp Göthert returned after his amazing performance in Ninja Warrior Germany 8, aiming to not only defend his Last Man Standing but to also take another step forward and achieve Total Victory.
First, he competed in the fifth Preliminary Round, being the final runner of the night. As expected, Göthert would be able to start his road to his ultimate goal without a hitch, overcoming the first five obstacles very efficiently. After that, he also got past the lethal Kaleidoscope, went up Warped Wall without taking a long breather, and finally pressed the buzzer (this would mark the first time since Ninja Warrior Germany 6 that he hit a Preliminary Round buzzer), qualifying for the Semi-finals and finishing with a time of 02:06.48 - the second best result of the day (behind his fellow Last Man Standing Max Görner)-, which gave him a shot at the Super Salmon Ladder and at a Speed Pass.
On the 30-rung-Super Salmon Ladder, he was the final of the four runners here, and would start up the Super Salmon Ladder at a blistering pace, skipping a rung for every single transition. And while he landed the bar lopsided once, he kept the double steps and almost flew up the rest of the obstacle before pressing the button at a time of just 13.08 seconds (becoming the eleventh person to clear the Super Salmon Ladder this season and 23rd to do so in Ninja Warrior Germany history), beating the second best, Max Görner, by over seven seconds, which granted him a 5,000 € cash prize + the Speed Pass for the second time in his Ninja Warrior Germany career. Also, this Super Salmon Ladder result was not only the best one of this season, but also the best one in the history of Ninja Warrior Germany.
Following that, Göthert competed in the second half of the Semi-finals, along with the other Speed Pass winners, and would aim at the Top 3 cash prizes. And while his run here was digested, it was shown that he would throw caution to the wind, and would subsquently clear the first two obstacles (Log Runner + Ring & Ferris Wheel) quickly. On the third obstacle, the lethal Jawbreakers, however, Göthert would take too much risk and shockingly failed the transition from the second bar hold to the second trap after he tried to link the aforementioned transition. Due to winning the Speed Pass of his Preliminary Round, he still advanced to the Finals.
In the First Stage, Philipp Göthert took a slower and more cautious approach and managed to clear the first four obstacles, including the tricky Rolling Escargot, easily. After that, he made up some of the lost time on the Circuit Board, and cleared the new obstacle of this stage, The Wedge, without any trouble. With just about 15 seconds remaining on the clock, Göthert would then also clear the Warped Wall easily, press the button and clear First Stage with 12.55 seconds remaing, increasing his impressive streak of consecutive First Stage clears in this show to five.
On the Second Stage, he was the 12th runner, and would carry his efficient, solid pace from the First Stage over, as he managed to clear the dangerous Salmon Roll fairly quickly, and would also clear the next two obstacles (Flipped Around & Corkscrew) without any visible issue. And while took his time on Water Walls to Rope Ladder after that, he was still able to clear the entire course with 5.66 seconds remaining on the clock - the third best result of the stage (behind Moritz Hans & René Casselly)-, moving onto his prime domain, the Third Stage.
On that Stage, he was fifth runner and also the first major hope for a clear on this stage, mainly due to his excellent skills as a climber. With his own expectations and the hopes of the others resting on his mind, Göthert would start his queston the stage and managed to get through the first two obstacles (Domino Pipes & Piston Plunge) with ease. After that, he also conquered the new Lasso Launch and Dropping Shelves, reaching the first crux point the stage, the redesigned Peg Cloud. And while he started strong on the obstacle, the situation quickly took a shocking turn as he (similar to his good friend Max Görner) lost one of the pegs when he dropped it into the water while trying to force it into the fifth box during the transition from the fourth to the fifth box, which forced him make an unintended laché from his position to Stalactites. And while the situation appeared to be hopeless, Göthert still tried to do the laché, but failed to hold onto the holds of Stalactites, producing one of the most shocking exits of the season. In his post-run interview, Philipp Göthert was extremely upset and frustrated about the fail since he felt stronger than ever before and was willing to go all the way. He also stated that he had slightly underestimated the Peg Cloud transition that ultimately caused his failure. But while he was saddened and bitter at the end of the day, Göthert did allow the fail to get him down and promised that he would return next season to perform even stronger than before. This performance granted him the 8th place of the entire season.
Statistics[]
General[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
Over the course of his six regular Ninja Warrior Germany seasons, Göthert has:
- Reached the Finals six times in total & consecutively - Ninja Warrior Germany 5-10,
- Cleared the First Stage six times in total & consecutively - Ninja Warrior Germany 5-10,
- Cleared the Second Stage six times in total & consecutively - Ninja Warrior Germany 5-10,
- And has cleared the Third Stage twice - in Ninja Warrior Germany 8 & 10.
Buzzers/Clears[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Core Competitions[]
| Season | List | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Total | ||
| Ninja Warrior Germany 5 | · Semi-finals 1 · First Stage · Second Stage |
3 | 3 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars | Preliminary Round 1: · Semi-finals Qualification · Semi-finals Finals: · First Duel-Round |
3 | 6 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany 6 | · Preliminary Round 6 · First Stage · Second Stage |
3 | 9 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars 2 | Preliminary Round 2: · First Duel-Round · Semi-finals Qualification |
2 | 11 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany 7 | · Semi-finals 1 · First Stage · Second Stage |
3 | 14 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany 8 | · First Stage · Second Stage · Third Stage |
3 | 17 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany 9 | · Preliminary Round 5 · First Stage · Second Stage |
3 | 20 |
| Ninja Warrior Germany 10 | · Preliminary Round 7 · First Stage · Second Stage · Third Stage |
4 | 24 |
Results:[]
Ninja Show Series[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
Regular Competitions[]
| Season | Result | Notes | Placement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Season | |||
| 5 | Failed Floating Boards (Third Stage) |
Failed the transition from the first to the second board. Fell between the boards. |
12th | |
| 6 | Failed Cliffhanger 3.0 (Third Stage) |
Failed the jump from the third to the fourth ledge. Failed to hold onto the ledge. |
3rd | |
| 7 | Failed Leaps of Faith (Third Stage) |
Failed the transition from the third to the fourth set of handholds. Failed to hold onto the set of handholdes. |
5th | |
| 8 | Failed Rope Climb (Final Stage) |
Timed Out as he was about to reach the halfway point of the Rope Climb (Pressed the button about eight seconds after the Time Out). Last Man Standing. |
1st | |
| 9 | Failed Peg Cloud / Stalactites (Third Stage) |
At the transition from the fourth to the fifth peg box of Peg Cloud, he lost one of the pegs as it fell into the water while trying to put it into the fifth peg box, which forced him make an unintended laché from his position to Stalactites. Tried to do the laché, but failed to hold onto the holds of Stalactites. |
8th | |
| 10 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Final Stage) |
Failed the transition from the 15th to the 17th rung. Missed the right side of the rung with the right side of the bar and then derailed the bar. Last Man Standing. |
1st | |
Spin-Offs[]
Ninja Warrior Germany All-Stars[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Round 2 - Second Duel-Round (Finals) |
Lost vs. Sladjan Djulabic (Match 3). |
| 2 | Round 3 - Semi-finals-Power Tower (Preliminary Round 2) |
Lost vs. Artur Schreiber (Match 4). |
SASUKE[]
Supporting Formats[]
SASUKE World Cup[]
| Competition | Stage | Heat | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Stage | 5 | 4 | Failed Fish Bone | Digest. Disqualified by grabbing the poles. Earned 10 points for Team Germany. |
Trivia[]
- Philipp Göthert is currently tied with Alexander Wurm for being the Ninja Warrior Germany athlete with the second most consecutive First & Second Stage clears (at four), only behind Moritz Hans (at six).
- Interestingly, Göthert is the only one of those three athletes who has an active streak of First & Second Stage clears (as of Ninja Warrior Germany 8).
- In the history of regular National/International Ninja Warrior/SASUKE shows, Philipp Göthert is the eighth person to have ever attempted a Final Stage version of the Salmon Ladder (after Morimoto Yūsuke, Yamamoto Yoshiyuki, Tada Tatsuya, René Casselly, Max Görner, Moritz Hans, Sladjan Djulabic (Team Europe), and Jay Lewis (Team USA.)
- He is the first person to have ever cleared a Final Stage version of the Salmon Ladder in a regular National/International Ninja Warrior/SASUKE show outside of SASUKE.
- He is the second person to attempt a Final Stage version of the Salmon Ladder from Germany after René Casselly.
- Philipp Göthert is very good friends with Simon Brunner, who provided him with significant support during his Final Stage-specific coaching.
- Ironically, everyime he has reached the Final Stage in history of regular Ninja Warrior Germany seasons, he ended up being the only one to attempt the stage.
Gallery[]
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