American Ninja Warrior Junior facts for kids

Quick facts for kids American Ninja Warrior Junior
Genre	Sports entertainment Sports competition
Presented by	Matt Iseman Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Laurie Hernandez (Season 1) Victoria Arlen (Season 2)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24
Production
Executive producer(s)	Arthur Smith Kent Weed Matt Cahoon
Camera setup	Multiple-camera
Production company(s)	A. Smith & Co. Productions
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	Universal Kids
Picture format	HDTV (1080i)
Original release	October 13, 2018 (2018-10-13) – present
Chronology
Related shows	American Ninja Warrior American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja

American Ninja Warrior Junior is an American children's sports competition game show on Universal Kids that premiered in 2018. It is the children's edition of American Ninja Warrior and American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja, which themselves are based on the Japanese game show SASUKE. As with the rest of the franchise, the series is produced by A. Smith & Co..

Format

American Ninja Warrior Junior is a head-to-head competition with multiple rounds and triple-elimination each episode. There are no teams, and each child contestant competes for themselves. Contestants are divided into age groups (9+10, 11+12, 13+14). Each age group has four contestants, with a total of 12 contestants per episode. Boys and girls compete with each other without segregation. Five runs in each age group are played to determine the episode's winner in each age group, for a total of three winners per episode, one per age group. Within each age group, the first two runs are seeding races without risk of elimination. Each run's winner then faces the other run's loser, with the two winners then facing each other to determine that episode's winner in that age group.

Obstacles

Obstacles are modified versions of those found in the two adult editions, to take account of the smaller size and strength of the young competitors. Obstacles in season 1 for the 9-10 age group include Sonic Swing, Tic Toc, I-Beam, Floating Tiles, Spin Cycle, and the Warped Wall. Obstacles for the 11-12 age group include two new obstacles: The Ring Toss and the Fly Wheels. Obstacles for the 13-14 age group include three new obstacles: The Archer Steps, Devil Steps and Flying Shelf Grab.

Obstacles in season 2 for the 9-10 age group include Shrinking Steps, Little Dipper, Spider Walls, Block Run, Flying Squirrel and the Warped Wall. Obstacles for the 11-12 age group include two new obstacles: The Double Tilt-Ladders and the Wingnuts. Obstacles for the 13-14 age group include three new obstacles: Floating Steps, Crazy Cliffhanger and the Sky Hooks.

Episodes

Seasons

Season 1

Season 1 premiered October 13, 2018, on Universal Kids television network, and was filmed in Los Angeles. Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila, who host the adult editions of the franchise, served as color commentators, with Laurie Hernandez as the on-course reporter. Contestants from the adult editions served as mentors to the Young competitors. This season these included Kevin Bull, Drew Drechsel, Natalie Duran, Meagan Martin, Najee Richardson, and Barclay Stockett.

The winners were Collin Cella (Ages 9+10), Kai Beckstrand (Ages 11+12) and Vance Walker (Ages 13+14).

Season 1 was licensed in Canada by Family Channel.

Season 2

Season 2 premiered February 22, 2020, on Universal Kids. It was filmed in 2019. Paralympian Victoria Arlen replaced Hernandez as on-course reporter. Iseman and Gbajabiamila returned as color commentators. More than 140 children competed this season.

Among the competitors for Season 2 was the son of U.S. Olympic gold medalist gymnast Dominique Moceanu, Vincent Canales.

Like season 1, it was licensed in Canada by the Family channel.

The winners were Nathanael Honvou (Ages 9+10), Jack David (Ages 11+12) and Vance Walker (Ages 13+14). With his defeat of Kaden Lebsack in the championship round, Vance Walker became the first reigning champion of American Ninja Warrior Junior. (Ages 9+10) 2nd 3rd and 4th places were 4th Owen Pham 3rd Daniel Woods 2nd Reeder Smith Fell on spider walls (Ages 11+12) 4th Sienna Perez 3rd Tate Allen 2nd Naccsa Garemore (Ages 13+14) 4th Kai Beckstrand Fell on Crazy Cliffhanger 3rd Devan Alexander 2nd Kaden Lebsack.