Vance Walker

**Vance Walker** is a high school student from Texas. He calls himself the "Walker Texas Ninja", as he is originally from Texas. He lived in Marietta, Georgia for some time, but has since moved back to Texas.

He has also faced challenges with cerebral palsy, with which he was diagnosed at 18 months old.

Before he competed on American Ninja Warrior 13, he competed on both American Ninja Warrior Junior 1 and 2 for the 13-14 age group. He impressively won every single race he was in and was the winner for that age group both times. His individual race record over the two seasons was 14-0.

## American Ninja Warrior

#### American Ninja Warrior 13

Walker first competed as in the third qualifying round of American Ninja Warrior 13 at the age of 16. He moved at a slower, more cautious pace compared to American Ninja Warrior Junior, making moves such as taking the long lache on Overpass and taking extra swings on Pretzel Twist. Interestingly, Vance answered Matt and Akbar's question of whether he would attempt the Mega Wall at the end of the course, responding with, "I am!" He not only cleared the qualifying course, but he also become both the youngest and shortest competitor at 5'5' to clear the Mega Wall, placing 10th overall and moving on to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Walker once again impressed everyone, moving at a fast and efficient pace. He cleared the front half of the course quickly, and powered through the back half of the course. He had a slight scare on the second half of Padlock, nearly spinning out of control, but he managed to recover. He then opted to take on The Dungeon at Split Decision, clearing it easily. On the Spider Trap, Vance struggled to keep his legs locked in, but pulled through and finished the course with the fastest time of the night with a time of 4:17.90, beating Josiah Pippel's respectable 5:26.21. On the Power Tower, hopes were high for Vance. Both he and Pippel were neck and neck to start until the Dropping Shelves- Vance opted to swing from the sides of the shelves (similar to the Wingnuts) rather than the front, gaining a single-shelf lead and hitting the buzzer, earning the Safety Pass.
In the national finals, Walker put up another impressive run on Stage 1. He moved through the course easily, keeping his perfect streak alive and clearing Stage 1 with 20 seconds remaining. In one of the funniest moments on Stage 1, Vance was moving so fast that he tripped on his own feet after clearing the Double Dipper. On Stage 2, he shockingly failed the Double Salmon Ladder after missing the open set of cradles, ending his perfect streak of never failing an obstacle. However, because he still had the Safety Pass, he was granted another shot at Stage 2. On his second attempt, he was able to correct his mistake on the Double Salmon Ladder, and made the most of his second chance. On Hammer Drop, he had a close call when banged his head on the pendulum and failed to grasp the left handle, but was able to stay alive by wrapping his feet around the pendulum. He then became the first ninja of to clear the Falling Shelves, and ultimately Stage 2 with 5.28 seconds remaining.
Walker then became one of four competitors to attempt Stage Three, alongside Austin Gray, Kyle Soderman, and Kaden Lebsack. Because he had the slowest time out of everyone, he went first. He had a slight scare on the Stalactites when he missed one of the hanging slots, but quickly and calmly recovered. Although he went extremely far into Stage 3, he was extremely gassed on the Eyeglass Alley, falling on the transition to the second pair of eyeglasses. He placed third overall, only behind Austin Gray and Kaden Lebsack. Interestingly, even though he went farther than Gray, he placed third because he completed the Pipe Dream (the obstacle preceding Eyeglass Alley) slower than Gray. He has the third best rookie attempt in American Ninja Warrior history.

#### American Ninja Warrior 14

Vance returned for the first round of qualifying in American Ninja Warrior 14. He hoped to hit all six buzzers, already emerging as one of the favorites to win the million dollars. He easily flew across the first four obstacles in a little under 1 minute. However, he failed the Salmon Roll, which shocked many people considering his near-perfect performance the previous season. As it turned out, Vance was a little too aggressive when attempting the 18-inch gap. He got more than enough air to clear the jump, but missed the rung by a little less than an inch, causing the bar to rebound as a result of hitting the wheel rather than landing perfectly on the rungs. Despite this, he placed 18th and advanced to the semifinals.

He competed in the final semifinals episode, where his run was digested for the first time ever. He was going at a fast pace in an attempt to get back to the Power Tower. However, he failed the ninth obstacle, Flipped Around, after he kicked the final board and unintentionally threw his grip off. His run was still enough for him to place 7th overall and advance to the National Finals.

His run on Stage One was digested. Unfortunately, his disappointing season continued as he failed the Jumping Spider, ending his sophomore season without a buzzer.