Kacy Catanzaro

Kacy Catanzaro
Born Kacy Esther Catanzaro[1]
(1990-01-14) January 14, 1990
Glen Ridge, New Jersey, United States

Kacy Esther Catanzaro (born January 14, 1990)[2][3] nicknamed The Mighty Kacy, is an American gymnast and athletics-based television personality. She is noted for being the first woman to qualify for the finals of the television sports challenge American Ninja Warrior and the first, and so far only,[4] woman on it to complete a City Finals course (in 2016 Jessie Graff finished second on a City Finals course based on 'the farthest the fastest' but did not complete it).

Early life and education

Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Catanzaro grew up and attended high school in nearby Belleville and is of Italian descent.[2][5][6] She is a relatively small woman, standing only 5 feet (1.5 m) tall and weighing only 95 pounds (43 kg). She began doing gymnastics at age 5. She attended Towson University in Towson, Maryland from 2009 until 2012, studying early childhood education on an athletic scholarship.[2][3][7]

Collegiate sports career

Catanzaro competed in gymnastics for Towson in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and was named the Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year in 2012.[8] She was also named the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Year and was the top-ranked competitor in that conference for that year.[9]

Obstacle competitor career

She has worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in San Antonio, Texas, since February 2013.[3]

Catanzaro spent two years training for American Ninja Warrior alongside her then-boyfriend and co-competitor Brent Steffensen.[10] She did not complete the qualifying course in Venice, California but was an invited wildcard at the 2013 finals,[11] where she fell early on the Giant cycle/ring.

In 2014, Catanzaro became the first woman to complete the qualifying course of American Ninja Warrior (Season 6), making it up the warped wall on her second try at 5:26.18 at the Dallas qualifiers, ranking her 21 out of 30; this also makes her the first woman to make it up the warped wall in competition. On July 14, 2014, Catanzaro competed in the Dallas finals of American Ninja Warrior. She was the first woman ever to complete a city finals course (and the second woman to attempt it after Jessie Graff in season 5), qualifying for the national finals in Las Vegas with a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds.[12][13] (Through 2016 she remains the only woman to have ever completed a City Finals course.[4]) Host commentator Akbar Gbaja-Biamila remarked "I've seen greatness during my NFL career...And I've been in awe of people, but I am really in awe of Kacy".[14] The run had been especially notable because due to her short stature, many of the obstacles looked difficult to manage and in one case, she had to leap between boards whereas other competitors could traverse them. Her achievement made her a social media phenomenon, with her run being viewed over 100 million times; supporters on Twitter coined the hashtag #MightyKacy.[11][15] Kacy Catanzaro failed to complete the first round of the National Finals in Las Vegas. She made it past the first three obstacles, including the Giant Ring and the Silk Slider, before she fell attempting the Jumping Spider, where her full extension was simply too short to hold the position.

In the 2015 Houston Qualifying round (Season 7), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on the cargo crossing. She was given a wild card spot in Vegas and she failed due to a mistimed trampoline jump at the Propeller Bar at Stage 1 of The Finals on September 7. By this time the pressure she felt to live up to her broadcast reputation as Ninja's greatest female competitor was showing on her and she was tearful in the post-run interview.

In 2016, Catanzaro was invited to compete in the 32nd competition of the original Japanese version of ANW, Sasuke. Catanzaro performed well, completing 8 of the stage 1 obstacles before timing out on the final obstacle, the Lumberjack Climb. Since the course's renewal and increased difficulty, Catanzaro set the record for the furthest a female athlete has gone and the closest a female athlete has got to completing stage 1 since the 2nd competition.

In the 2016 Oklahoma City Qualifying round (Season 8), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on an early obstacle, the Log Runner, on June 20; however, she was again given a Wild Card spot in Las Vegas. In the Las Vegas National Finals, Stage 1, she fell on the second obstacle, her nemesis the Propeller Bar, this time getting a credible jump off the trampoline but with her short stature not getting quite high enough or far enough to grab ahold of it. The broadcast commentary noted that she had had a tough last two years on ANW, and by this time her status as the sport's most accomplished woman had been eclipsed by Jessie Graff, but Catanzaro said she would not give up.

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/KacyCatanzaro/status/491814181281083393
  2. 1 2 3 Zachary Stieber (July 16, 2014). "Kacy Catanzaro American Ninja Warrior". Epoch Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Dan Reilly (July 17, 2014). "14 things #MightyKacy told us after her huge victory on American Ninja Warrior". Esquire.
  4. 1 2 Note that Jessie Graff's epic 2016 run featured her finishing second overall, but not completing, the City Finals course.
  5. ↑ Allison Takeda (July 16, 2014). "Kacy Catanzaro owns American Ninja Warrior, is first female finalist". US Magazine.
  6. ↑ "14 Things #MightyKacy Told Us After Her Huge Victory on American Ninja Warrior". Esquire. Esquire. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Kacy Catanzaro sets the bar high on American Ninja Warrior". CBS Baltimore. July 15, 2014.
  8. ↑ Kyle Newport (July 15, 2014). "Former NCAA gymnast becomes 1st woman to finish 'American Ninja Warrior' course". Bleacher Report.
  9. ↑ "Catanzaro named as NCAA Regional Gymnast of the Year". Towson Tigers. April 7, 2012.
  10. ↑ Alex Heigl (July 17, 2014). "Kacy Catanzaro becomes first woman to complete American Ninja Warrior course". People.
  11. 1 2 Nina Mandell (July 18, 2014). "American Ninja Warrior phenom Kacy Catanzaro: 'I had no idea so many people would care so much'". USA Today.
  12. ↑ Avery Thompson (July 17, 2014). "'American Ninja Warrior': Kacy Catanzaro is first woman to finish course". Hollywood Life.
  13. ↑ Sophia Rosenbaum (July 16, 2014). "First woman advances to 'American Ninja Warrior' finals". New York Post.
  14. ↑ Bruna Nessif (July 16, 2014). "Gymnast Kacy Catanzaro completing the American Ninja Warrior course is the most exciting thing you'll watch all day". E! Online.
  15. ↑ David Young (July 16, 2014). "The Mighty Kacy strikes back on American Ninja Warrior". SportsGrid.
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