Kacy Catanzaro, American Ninja Warrior

[Green Ninja Dawg]

Okay, so here's my rant about this subject. Is anyone else annoyed that all of a sudden the media has swarmed all over Kacy and her accomplishment, and that it's popping up everywhere? I swear, I open up yahoo, it's there. People who never even have watched the show are posting it all over Facebook. And something about that fact has really been rubbing me the wrong way. I love the show. I totally fan-girled over her entire run and was holding my breath and praying that she'd make it through. I was literally crying when she did it. Holy cow, it was an amazing run, and she deserves to be noticed for it. But for whatever reason the fact that all these people are suddenly swarming over it who have otherwise called the show stupid, or never bothered to watch it, or those cocky lazy people who take one glance and say, oh, I could do that, and suddenly they're acting like they know about it all? When people who have never seen the show beforehand come up to me and are all like, hey, have you heard about that Kacy person who beat that Ninja Warrior show? It really really gets on my nerves. The people who (again) have never seen the show and are tooting their horns about how, oh, see, this is why you stick with cross-fit. Or oh hey, yoga will make you able to do this. I don't know. Is anyone else bugged by this, or am I just being a stuck up jerk? I mean, it's great, but I'm pretty confident that Megan Martin will also beat the course when Denver finally comes around.

On a completely different page, I'd say Brian Arnold really is gonna have a run for his money this season. There were so many really strong competitors this time around.

Sorry if I'm just being childish… I just really needed to get that out of my system.

[Elastigirl]

I think it is pretty cool that people are noticing it. However, on my facebook and places where I've seen it, it has been shown as a great accomplishment. It would annoy me if people were acting like it was super easy and they could do it.

[Tanuki]

I'm not in the US and have never heard of this show. I don't think it even airs here. I have only seen people saying nice things. I don't see anything wrong with nice things. Also, I've been surprised at just how complimentary people are being - for once, it's all "Wow, she must train so hard!" and "What an achievement!" rather than "Ew, muscles" or "Hehe, dat ass."

 

If someone says 'Oh I can do that', it's not really worth a response is it? I mean, my son says he's as strong as Batman, but I'm not going to call him on it

[Spark]

Eh. I figure it's one of those things like comic book movies. You know, the period of about six months when people who've never seen a comic book say things to me like, "Did you know that Thor movie was based off of a comic? I think it's by the same company that does Superman!"

 

Just smile and nod. Some fans will be made, and everyone else will get over it.

 

Kacy frikkin' rocks.

[Huntress]

I think it's great! I love Ninja Warrior - the original Japanese show - and it was great to see it getting so much PR. A lot of people think women aren't capable of demonstrating that much upper body strength and she really smashed those prejudices.

Only one woman has completed the first stage in Japan and I'd really love it if Catanzaro could top that. I don't know anyone who thought what she did was easy though, that would make me pretty mad, although I imagine they could be quite easily put in their place... by getting them to attempt the course!

[I-Jo]

it showed up a few times a month ago??

 

I finally got around to watching it and I completely felt at odds with the entire worlds reaction.

 

I was so ANGRY

 

really- really angry.

 

No one else seemed angry and I finally brought it up... everyone was ragging on how amazing it was that she was so fabulous for a woman. so fantastic , for a woman.

 

Such a great wing span, for a woman.

 

SHE WAS AWESOME.

 

PERIOD.

 

NOTHING ELSE.

 

NO QUALIFIERS NEEDED.

 

SO..ANGRY.   Seriously- I"m VERY happy that she was successful- and I proud she's kicking ass- but seriously- the commentating was so condescending and sexist it was just insulting. 

 

Thirdly/secondly/finally whatever:

she was a top rated gymnast.  Seriously- when she went up the top- she was like ALL.DAY.LONG.

 

no questions- like oh it's a woman- no one expects her it.

that's the fucking problem.

 

no- you aren't alone- I was really annoed. 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

It's not expected of a woman to do that well because women biologically have a lower strength to weight ratio than men, due to the fact that men can put more muscle mass on than women and have a lower threshold of bodyfat % than women because of it. It's why they have different wilks curves in powerlifitng, because when comparing a woman and man at a simlar weight and fitness level, the man will have a higher lean mass %. Because of this, a smaller % of even the top women athletes would be expected to be able to complete the course. It's why female gymnasts don't do the rings. It's not sexist, it's science. That's why it's so impressive, she defied those odds.

 

And yes, she was awesome, specifically for a woman, because out of the competitors that moved on from Dallas Stage 1, her time was ranked 21st. That's good, not awesome, when compared to the entire field. It's awseome, for a woman, because it ranked first in history when compared to that subset. In the Dallas finals, she ranked 7 out of 15. Once again, good compared to that field, awesome when compared to women (once again first in history).

 

I'd expect most male gymnasts to be able to complete those two courses if they trained specifically for Ninja Warrior for a year as she had. I would not expect that from most female gymnasts, they simply don't have the strength to weight ratios.

[MsFitz]

Gainsdalf, everything you say makes sense, but as a mom of three girls I agree with I-Jo. The fact that they add "for a woman" every time makes it sound like an amazing near-impossible thing that no other woman could do. A rare accomplishment for a woman. I want my girls to know that if they work hard, they can accomplish anything, woman or not.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

It's exactly that though, an amazing thing that most other women wouldn't be able to do unless they were an amazing athlete already and trained specifically for this contest for months and years on end with the right genetics and build to give them a strength/ratio advantage.

Instilling a great work ethic is great and important, but saying one can accomplish anything with one isn't true. Hard work is part of the puzzle. The right genetics, and the right situation are the others when it comes to elite athletes. It doesn't matter how hard i work, I'm too big to get through ninja warrior no matter how hard i train. It's all 5"6"- 5'10", 140-180 lb men who excel because they have a higher cap on their strength to weight ratios that they can train up to. The hosts of the show mention it every time a >200 lb male steps on the course, no matter how ripped and strong and agile he is. No matter how hard I train, I'd never be able to reach a point where I could get to the top of that mountain because of my genetic limits. Kacy had those same benefits, being a tiny person, giving a higher cap to her strength to weight ratio than most other women. It's the same trait that makes her and other small women better gymnasts. Accepting these limitations and pursuing obtainable goals is important too.

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[Hit]

 

 

It's exactly that though, an amazing thing that most other women wouldn't be able to do unless they were an amazing athlete already and trained specifically for this contest for months and years on end with the right genetics and build to give them a strength/ratio advantage.

 

how is this statement different from

 

 

 

It's exactly that though, an amazing thing that most other men wouldn't be able to do unless they were an amazing athlete already and trained specifically for this contest for months and years on end with the right genetics and build to give them a strength/ratio advantage.

 

or

 

 

 

It's exactly that though, an amazing thing that most other people wouldn't be able to do unless they were an amazing athlete already and trained specifically for this contest for months and years on end with the right genetics and build to give them a strength/ratio advantage.

 

point: the course is hard for everyone. celebrate her for being the first woman to complete it. she is not strong for a woman, she is strong, period. 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

The men that put up her numbers aren't be getting the praise she is, because they're not women, and what they did isn't near as impressive as some of the other contestants. If Kacy was a guy, we wouldn't be talking about her right now.

All I'm saying is she hasn't reached the "awesome period" point yet, just the "pretty good, period" point. If she gets through her first Vegas stage tonight, I think that's the point where she's "awesome, period", because now she's in the top tier of all contestants.

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[Hit]

 

 

The men that put up her numbers aren't be getting the praise she is, because they're not women, and what they did isn't near as impressive as some of the other contestants. If Kacy was a guy, we wouldn't be talking about her right now.

 

If Kacy was the first guy to complete a ninja warrior course, im pretty sure we'd be talking about them. 

 

also, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

[Elastigirl]

The men that put up her numbers aren't be getting the praise she is, because they're not women, and what they did isn't near as impressive as some of the other contestants. If Kacy was a guy, we wouldn't be talking about her right now.

All I'm saying is she hasn't reached the "awesome period" point yet, just the "pretty good, period" point. If she gets through her first Vegas stage tonight, I think that's the point where she's "awesome, period", because now she's in the top tier of all contestants.

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So excited to watch this!!

[Huntress]

it showed up a few times a month ago??

 

I finally got around to watching it and I completely felt at odds with the entire worlds reaction.

 

I was so ANGRY

 

really- really angry.

 

No one else seemed angry and I finally brought it up... everyone was ragging on how amazing it was that she was so fabulous for a woman. so fantastic , for a woman.

 

Such a great wing span, for a woman.

 

SHE WAS AWESOME.

 

PERIOD.

 

NOTHING ELSE.

 

NO QUALIFIERS NEEDED.

 

SO..ANGRY.   Seriously- I"m VERY happy that she was successful- and I proud she's kicking ass- but seriously- the commentating was so condescending and sexist it was just insulting. 

 

Thirdly/secondly/finally whatever:

she was a top rated gymnast.  Seriously- when she went up the top- she was like ALL.DAY.LONG.

 

no questions- like oh it's a woman- no one expects her it.

that's the fucking problem.

 

no- you aren't alone- I was really annoed. 

 

I like this comment in a big way.

The other thing I noticed is that they were constantly going on about how she was 'only' 5'1 or whatever it was. I watch Japanese Ninja Warrior and a lot of the top competitors are small, lightweight dudes (around 5-5'3). Personally I think the Japanese competition is way tougher than the American and the Japanese competitors don't seem to struggle because they're short. 

[cn3wton]

I think it is a little unfair that Kacy gets all the recognition, while she wasn't the only one to beat the qualifying course this year. Meagan Martin. She is a beast. Kacy just got the opportunity to be the first "real" female contestant to get a crack at it this year. I say real not because all the other women before her weren't real contestants, but like their early run male counterparts they were inexperienced and not expected to complete the course.

 

But I have to agree and disagree with Gainsdalf. I agree because body composition, genetics, and previous athletic experience play a huge role in Ninja Warrior. Tons of taller guys fail at some obstacles because of their weight, or in case of the spinning wheel not being able to lock in. While shorter people have trouble getting enough reach on the trampolines (WHY SAM SANN WHY!!!!). If you look at Brian Arnold his rookie season he did no training specifically for ninja warrior. But he made it so far. They say that he was "off the couch" But they also say he has done rock climbing and other athletic stuff his whole life. But he fits right into the perfect size and weight for the course.

 

I disagree with Gainsdalf in generalizing that woman haven't been successful because of genetics. They haven't been successful because there hasn't been nearly as many female contestants. They showed the numbers this year, but there where 3 women who made it up the warped wall this year. And there were a ton more woman participating. I think that if more women ran we'd see more women in the top. I'd be interested to compare the numbers from previous seasons to see how many men made it up the warped wall the first season, compared to how many made it up this season. Compared with of course the number of competitors.