So, here’s a post you won’t see too often from this website.
However I feel like it’s one worth sharing as it’s a story of triumph. Australia has crowned its first Ninja Warrior last night on Channel 9 in Australia in a finale that was viewed by up to 1 million people nationwide in Australia.
The prize pool was also $400,000 Australian dollars.
What is Ninja Warrior?
Ninja Warrior is a competition that goes through several stages including: Heats, Semi-Final’s and Final’s. Finally, contestants need to climb a 22-metre rope in 30 minutes (75-foot rope). It is based off Sasuke, a japanese show featured similarly.
As contestants go through the heats, semis and finals the course becomes more and more harder.
In the end, there can only be one winner.
There is also a USA version of the show which is quite popular and has previously had a prize pool of 1 million dollars. The prize goes up $100,000 every year – until a winner is crowned. It took Australian Ninja’s just 4 years to complete the feat. Therefore the total prize pool for Australians was a generous $400,000 which only goes to one winner.
That leads us to the man that made it all happen this year for Australia.
Who is Ben Polson?
Ben Polson is a 27 year old videographer from Perth, Western Australia. He has a unique tall-frame of 196cm which he has proven to be in complete control of in the finals.
He is the partner of Olivia Vivian who was part of the Olympics and was a consistent nationwide gymnast champion. She is also a fellow ninja which has made it all the way through the finals with a solid effort.
Ben is known for his commitment to Australian Ninja Warrior, having competed in every year and getting closer to the summit every time.
Ben has stated that he regularly wakes up at 1 AM in order to train for Mount Midoriyama as that is around the time they will do it on the show come finals.
Australian Ninja Warrior 2020 Finals - As It Happened
There were three Ninjas in Australia this year that were able to pass Grand Finals Stage 3 and get through to have a shot at climbing the iconic Mount Midoriyama. Ben was together with fellow ninjas Zak Stolz and Charlie Robinson (Furthest fastest 2019).
Zak Stolz finished with a time of 29.8 seconds, leaving 200 miliseconds to spare.
Charlie then finished with a time of 26 seconds, whilst ben finished with a time of 25 seconds. I can’t recall the exact times now as I can’t source them online but I believe it was 26.57 vs 25.57 (A whole second of difference).
The best part about Ninja? The warriors are true athletes that understand what it takes to sit at top of the summit. In every Australian’s eyes all three are champions, and especially how they talk to each other after victory or defeat.
“I’m just stoked that we were able to get there and to be able to say that you’ve finished everything without falling off any obstacle — I got to do two Power Towers, there were so many positives, losing by a second didn’t really faze me.” says Charlie Robbins.
And when asked how he felt about the 1-second difference, we get our usual humble Charlie response:
“A few people said to me, ‘Are you annoyed ’cause you’re one second off $400,000?’ It might hit me in a couple years’ time when I start looking for houses and stuff like that, but at the moment that hasn’t even really come into my mind.”
Conclusion
A massive congratulations to Ben Polson on becoming Australia’s first ninja warrior. Ben has been very transparent about his training and what it takes to become a ninja. I believe that this is the best takeaway that we can get from the finals. Ben truly knows the work required to get somewhere but once you put in enough effort, anything is possible.
Just like my story of addiction, leading into me to start running and completing a marathon – Ben found a goal that he had to achieve no matter what, and it resulted in a massive sense of accomplishment that I’m sure only Ben will understand.
However, that is Ben’s story. We can all build our own story. For me it was to get out of addiction and into a Marathon.
What will be your story?
Sources:
– Channel 9 News Network Australia
Marko Rakic is a trail runner and fitness enthusiast from Sydney, Australia. He is the lead writer for The Ultimate Primate and believes the best way to live a happy life is through constantly challenging yourself.