After getting close in American Ninja Warrior season 16, Kai Beckstrand had one thought on his mind in season 17. He needed to win, and he knew that if there was a year that he was going to do it, it was this year.
Sure enough, the 19-year-old achieved it. After initially getting his start in American Ninja Warrior Junior and training with his family of Ninjas, he managed to prove that focusing on the right training and skills would help him take home the trophy.
We chatted with Kai about his achievement, the pressure but also the positives of coming from a Ninja family, and his future endeavors in our exclusive interview.
Kai Beckstrand knew this year was his year on American Ninja Warrior
GeekSided: Congratulations on the win! You came so close last year, so how does it feel to win American Ninja Warrior season 17?
Kai Beckstrand: Yeah, this feels super surreal. Just all the hours of training that I put into this sport and all the work that I put into it, it’s just super surreal and super rewarding to finally see that pay off, especially thinking about the previous season coming so close.
I knew that this season was going to be my year, especially with the change in format going into those races. I knew I didn’t have to rely on my speed on the rope climb, so I just ran courses. I definitely had what it took to be the season 17 champion.
GS: What was your training like?
KB: So I try to train three to four days a week, and those trainings are about an hour and a half to two hours long. The difference this year was that I focused more on just the speed aspect of ninja, so going into my trainings mainly consisted of setting up a shorter style course with a little bit easier obstacles and running it over and over again to get all those moves dialed in exactly how I wanted that course to be run. Then, from that point, I’d compare the times and progress forward from there.
GS: Does it help coming from a Ninja family? You have siblings and parents to train with you.
KB: It definitely makes a huge difference, not only in Ninja, but it’s also family bonding time. The fact that my dad’s competed on previous seasons. My brothers have now competed, so I just have kind of the best training partners that I could ever ask for.
GS: Is there any pressure as well?
KB: I try not to let the pressure get to me as far as just competing on the show. I know it’s one of those things that a lot of people picked for the show, including myself, have what it takes to get through the course. It’s just a matter of doing it in the circumstances you’re given. You could be running it at 10 at night, or you could be running it at two in the morning, so it just depends on staying ready and on your game and not making any mistakes.
But I feel like everybody who’s selected for the show is capable of completing the courses. As we get closer to the races, that’s when the pressure really starts to kick in, because it’s not only ‘can I get through this course,’ it’s ‘can I get through this course faster than the person I’m racing?’ I focus on running my own race.
GS: You need to keep your head in the game from the starting line. When you look at those obstacles in front and your opponent to the side, how do you manage that?
KB: I know a lot of the Ninjas competing on the show have been in previous seasons, as well as some of the competitions around the country in other leagues that we do, so seeing what they’re capable of and knowing how they stack up against myself, as well as taking into consideration that every Ninja has their own strengths and weaknesses. Getting out on that first obstacle could be better for somebody else. They might be a little bit quicker right off the start on their feet, but it really comes down to the whole course, not just one obstacle, so I can make up for that on the second, third, and fourth, and come out on top in the end.
GS: So, you might not land right, and someone else may take off faster than you. Not everything goes right for you in the moment, so how do you pivot during a challenge?
KB: I just try to think about multiple ways that the obstacle can happen. Obviously, you have the game plan that you want to go with in the race, and it might not work out in the end, so you try just think about other considerations that may affect that. Maybe it’s starting with the wrong hand or coming off the bar and landing a little bit crooked. I just try and think about resetting myself onto my original game plan, and then go from there.
If I land a bit crooked, I reset my body to where I want it to be and go from that point. Taking that half a second to reset myself rather than the four seconds of scrambling to recover what my game plan originally was.
GS: American Ninja Warrior season 17 introduced the bracket-style for the finale. What were your thoughts going into it?
KB: I knew that the bracket was going to be new for this season, so I knew this would be the best year, the best chance of going all the way and becoming the champion of the season. I also took into consideration that the races are only the finals, so I had to still get through my qualifying rounds and the semifinal rounds, so I wanted to do that as comfortably as possible.
Even in those qualifiers and semis, I wanted to run them pretty quick and just stay in control as much as possible. Not every obstacle is the same or moves are the same, but at least on the show, a lot of the surfaces that you’re grabbing or holds that you’re grabbing are pretty similar, so I wanted to get a feel for all that.
GS: You have a lot to look back on with the qualifiers and semis. Do you do that to see what you could have done better for the next round?
KB: Not necessarily in the qualifiers or the semis, but definitely in the races when I knew it was going to be the same course through and through. I would always look back on my previous race and what I could do better to optimize that. It definitely makes a difference. Little things add up over time, but for the most part, I try to stay as consistent as possible from course to course.
GS: So, you’ve won American Ninja Warrior, you’ve graduated high school, and you’re focusing on your dream career. What’s next for you?
KB: I recently got hired part-time as a firefighter. Eventually I’d like to go full-time with the city of St. George, where I live. Other than that, I’m getting married in October, so that’s exciting.
GS: Congratulations!
KB: Thank you! Then I’m just keeping strong with Ninja, staying in the gym, training hard, staying on top of my game as long as possible.
American Ninja Warrior is now available to stream in full on Peacock.