An Ocala student athlete has earned the number one seed heading into the final, head-to-head round of American Ninja Warrior, beating 59 other competitors by at least 20 seconds en route to being the top qualifier for the $250,000 tournament.
Nacssa Garemore set the fastest qualifying time during the three semifinal rounds of the popular series. The 17th season of the series premiered on June 2, with the semifinals beginning on NBC beginning on July 14. The third and last semifinal round aired on Monday, July 28.
In total, 60 individuals qualified for the final round of the show. During his semifinal run, Garmore set a blistering pace for the entire field, finishing ten obstacles with a qualifying time of 2:52.60.
In comparison, the second fastest qualifier, Luke Beckstrand, finished the course with a time of 3:12.00, or just under 20 seconds behind Garemore.
No other competitors finished the course in under 3:30.00, with all 58 finishing with a time of 3:38.00 or worse.
This year’s finals will feature a new, bracket-style tournament. Participants will be ranked according to their qualifying time and will race head-to-head, side-by-side. The winner of that final tournament will receive this year’s $250,000 prize.
The first episode of the four-part finale will air next Monday, August 4, at 8 p.m. on NBC. The second episode of the four-part finale will air on August 11, at 8 p.m., and the penultimate episode will air on August 18 at 8 p.m. The final episode will air on August 25 at the same time.
During Garemore’s semifinal qualifying run, hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila described the young athlete as a “virtuoso” who had “found the sport he was meant to do.” His time was the fastest for the 10-obstacle course since American Ninja Warrior 5 around 12 years ago.
“It is like he found the sport he was meant to do. He is a virtuoso at [American] Ninja Warrior; we met him at [American] Ninja Junior, and he just keeps getting bigger and stronger,” said Iseman. “It’s just him and the obstacle he’s on and he just looks so flawless. He’s just a machine, you can see why he’s never fallen on an obstacle. He just looks unstoppable.”
“[Nacssa] doesn’t even think about it, this is literally a playground for him,” said Gbajabiamila. “It’s Nacssa’s world and we’re just commentating in it. And I’m happy to do it.”
According to the show, Garemore had reached stage four of the competition twice before this season. In all three seasons in which he has competed, Garemore has never hit the water.
Before the semifinals, Garemore performed similarly in the qualifying round, finishing the course in under 50 seconds. During the qualifying rounds, Nacssa was also the first individual to complete the Mega Wall challenge this season, earning a $10,000 prize in the process.
Leave your comments and words of encouragement below for Nacssa Garemore as he heads to the finals of American Ninja Warrior. To follow along and support this stellar athlete, visit Nacssa Garemore on Instagram.
Watch full episodes of this season of American Ninja Warrior on Peacock.
UPDATE: This story was corrected to reflect that the final round will be aired in three episodes, not two.
SECOND UPDATE: This story was corrected a second time to reflect that the final round is August 25, not August 18.