Travis Rust was a walk-on competitor from Dallas, Georgia who competed in American Ninja Warrior 11.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
He competed in the Atlanta qualifying of American Ninja Warrior 11 as a walk-on, where his run was all cut in qualifying, but he failed the Ferris Wheel, placing 22nd and moving on to the city finals.
During the city finals, he completed the Ferris Wheel, but like many others, failed Up for Grabs. He placed 17th overall, so he didn't make the cut for the national finals.
Death[]
On September 8, 2021, Ninja Quest, a gym where Rust worked as a coach, announced on their Instagram page that Rust had passed away on August 29th after a motorcycle accident. According to the post, he was not considered the cause of the crash. He was 29 years old.
Legacy[]
On American Ninja Warrior 15, clips of his runs in Atlanta were shown before Ethan Bartnicki ran the Stage Three course as it was revealed that Travis Rust was Ethan Bartnicki's coach and also a close friend of Vance Walker, with Ethan's signature pose of pointing to the sky being a tribute to him. Bartnicki actually considered quitting ninjasport for good, but kept going. Both of their runs are dedicated to Rust, and thankfully, both of them cleared Stage Three that season, with Vance Walker later achieving Total Victory.
Trivia[]
- While his run was digested in the city finals, it erroneously mentioned that he lived in Dallas, Texas, but it is actually known he lived in Dallas, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.