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Why we aren’t surprised that nobody won Australian Ninja Warrior

The odds were never in their favour…
Australian Ninja Warrior

While it was a somewhat underwhelming end to an action-packed season, we’re not surprised that no one was able to complete tonight’s course in the grand final of Australian Ninja Warrior.

As much as we would have loved to see one of our worthy contenders win the title, it seems like an almost impossible feat.

Since the Ninja Warrior franchise began in Japan in 1997, just six contestants have managed to complete the course. That’s just six people in 31 series of the show that have aired across the globe – not exactly encouraging statistics!

In the United States, it took seven seasons for an American to defeat the course. So if you were expecting to see an Australian Ninja Warrior succeed next season, you might want to readjust your expectations…

Of the six Ninja’s that have completed the course, four were from Japan and two from the United States.

This season we saw Andrea Hah create history by being the first Australian woman to scale the warped wall. While globally 25% of Ninja Warrior competitors are female, a woman is yet to complete the course.

In the current American season, Jessie Graff became the first woman to complete Stage 1 and 2 of the Ninja Warrior grand final.

In the current American season, Jessie Graff became the first woman to complete Stage 1 and 2 of the Ninja Warrior grand final.

Tonight’s course featured the terrifying Mt Midoriyama – a 22-metre rope climb straight up which must be completed in just 30 seconds. This obstacle has the lowest rate of completion globally (not a huge surprise).

Bottom line is, they’re really not lying when they say is the world’s toughest obstacle course! So should the course be easier? Or are we willing to potentially wait another seven seasons before we meet Australia’s first Ninja Warrior? Only time will tell…

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