Josh Levin

**Josh Levin** is a professional rock climber from Sunnyvale, California. He first competed in American Ninja Warrior 8.

## American Ninja Warrior

#### American Ninja Warrior 8

Josh first competed on the Los Angeles course in American Ninja Warrior 8. In Qualifying, he did quite well, placing 12th and clearing the course. In City Finals, he became only the second competitor to defeat The Wedge, and the only one to finish the course, placing at the top of the leaderboard.

In the Vegas finals, Levin was one of the 17 competitors to have completed Stage 1, finishing with a mere 7.76 seconds remaining. Levin looked strong in Stage 2, but he failed the Double Wedge when he wasn't able to make the lache to the second bar. Levin became the top rookie that season.

#### American Ninja Warrior 9

Josh returned to compete in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 9. His qualifying run was digested, but it was shown that he finished the course, placing 15th overall. He also finished the City Finals course for the second year in a row, finishing in 4th place. Overall, Josh was one of just nine athletes that completed a city finals course that season. In the national finals, Josh had a small scare on the Propeller Bar, but ultimately finished Stage One with 14.30 seconds left. Looking eager to conquer all four stages, Levin shocked everybody when he lost his grip on the second board of the Wave Runner in Stage Two. On social media, Levin revealed that his failure was caused in part by his hand being injured; when he jumped to the Propeller Bar on Stage 1, he rammed his hand on the propeller, causing it to swell up.

#### American Ninja Warrior 10

Josh returned to compete in Los Angeles for the third year in a row on American Ninja Warrior 10. In qualifying, his run was once again digested but it was shown that he finished the course with the 4th fastest time, the fastest he had ever ran in his Ninja Warrior career.

In the City Finals, Josh put up yet another strong run, finishing the course with the 3rd best time and advancing to Vegas for the third year in a row.

He was digested for the third time that season, but cleared Stage 1 with 16.90 seconds left. His run on Stage 2 was digested a fourth time but it was shown that he failed Wingnut Alley.

Josh announced on Instagram that he would not compete on American Ninja Warrior 11 so that he could train for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Sadly, Josh did not represent America, just barely missing the cut. However, Josh made a special guest appearance supporting Seth Rogers in Vegas. He was returning the favor for Seth in his rookie Vegas season after Seth did so for him in American Ninja Warrior 8.

#### American Ninja Warrior 14

After taking a three-season hiatus so that he could focus on getting a master's degree, Josh returned to compete in the last qualifying episode. He was one of the many veterans that fans were anticipating to have a strong return season. His run was digested to the chagrin of many viewers, but it was shown that he once again cleared the course, this time in 16th place.

Josh then competed In the second episode of the semifinals, hoping to finish the course for the fourth year in a row. His run was somewhat sloppy at first, as he struggled to build momentum on Lunatic Ledges and slipped on the dismount of the Spinning Bridge. It's also worth noting that he was very visibly psyching himself up prior to the Spinning Bridge, taking deep, loud, heavy breaths. However, once he reached the grip-intensive Hopscotch, he began moving more fluidly, as the rest of the course played perfectly to his strengths as a speed climber. On Split Decision, Josh opted to tackle the Dragonback. He moved through it efficiently and looked poised to clear the Semifinals course once again. However, right before he was about to attempt the final ride down, the left side of the bar slipped out, resulting in his failure and the end of his three-year streak of clearing the Semifinals course. Levin still ended up placing 3rd, just missing out on the Power Tower. On a side note, Josh mentioned on Instagram that the bar on Dragonback had fractured his nose and the metal safety line connected to the bar had sliced a cut on the left side of his nose and he had to be transported to the hospital to get stitches.

At the national finals, Josh finished Stage One once again, this time with 34.70 seconds left. He was also one of the few to attempt and clear The High Road. Josh was the final runner in the first night of Stage Two, and he completed the fifth obstacle, the Hornets' Nest, for the first time. He also cleared the Falling Shelves and completed Stage Two for the first time in his career with 05.16 seconds left. On Stage Three, his climbing skills translated to the course as he cleared. Since he had the slowest time of all five Stage Three finishers he attempted Stage Four first and he timed out 60 feet up the Rope Climb, ending his comeback season. He had the fifth best performance of the season.