Kent Family Makes Appearance on NBC’s America Ninja Warrior Competition
Brian Kent on the set of America Ninja Warrior. Photo courtesy of The Kent Family.
By: Brittany Bevis
Now returning for its seventh season on NBC, the wildly popular television competition America Ninja Warrior, has grown to massive proportions with a legion of dedicated fans. Athletes of all different backgrounds from US Olympians, professional athletes, and Hollywood stuntmen to rock climbers, yoga instructors, and even regular Joe’s test their skills on one of the world’s most extreme obstacle courses.
If an athlete is able to complete the city qualifying course and the city finals course, they will receive a ticket to the finals in Las Vegas to tackle the imposing final course nicknamed “Mt. Midoriyama.” The winner of the finals will take home a grand prize of $1,000,000. However, to date, no competitor has ever completed the course.
The ANW format was modeled after a similar competition in Japan called Sasuke. To give you an idea of how challenging these courses are, after 31 seasons, only three people have ever finished the finals course in Japan. Meanwhile, everyone here in the US is still waiting to crown our first American Ninja Warrior…
Do you know someone adventurous enough to tackle obstacles like the Jumping Spider, where a competitor must jump from a trampoline into the shaft of two parallel walls? What about the infamous Warped Wall, where a competitor must scale a concave quarter pipe over 15 feet tall by running and grabbing the top of the wall to lift their body up and over? Longtime AQHA competitors Ronnie and Vickie Kent of RV Quarter Horses know someone willing to tackle such a feat, their 39-year-old son Brian Kent.
Just a few weeks ago, members of the Kent family gathered to watch Brian make his first attempt at completing the America Ninja Warrior course. When he’s not navigating obstacles like Cannonball Alley or the Doorknob Grasper, Brian is the owner of Kent Construction and Roofing Company located in Chipley, Florida. Interestingly enough, many former ANW competitors have come from similar professions.
39-year-old Brian Kent of Florida. Photo courtesy of The Kent Family.
Like other diehard ninjas, Brian has built a complete ANW course in his backyard, and he works out daily. Though Brian doesn’t have a background in the horse industry, himself, it’s clear the competitive drive runs deep within the Kent family.
“He wasn’t into showing horses like his brother and sister,” says his father Ronnie Kent. “But even though he hasn’t played sports, he has always worked out and stayed in great shape. Even though he didn’t complete the course, he did very well for his first time.”
Like any proud parents, Ronnie and Vickie were thrilled to watch their son compete. However, this tough course is known for leaving many injured athletes in its wake, so their excitement was tempered with a bit of concern.
“Brian was in a severe automobile accident when he was 17,” Ronnie says. “He had a head injury that left him in a coma for 21 days. He was worried about the second obstacle, which was the Rolling Log, but he did it well. He thought the Tire Obstacle was the toughest. We were just hoping he would make it through the next obstacle and not get hurt!”
Despite having to endure a punishing course that requires agility, strength, speed, and endurance, athletes from all over the US work tirelessly in the hopes of becoming one of the show’s contestants. ANW reports that video submissions to enter the competition went up over ten times from last year and over 700 contestants are expected this year. In addition to the obstacles from year’s past, competitors in the 2015 season may encounter 23 new obstacles.
Congratulations to Brian Kent and the Kent family on his impressive showing at the recent America Ninja Warrior competition. If you’d like to watch the show, America Ninja Warrior airs Monday nights at 7:00 CDT on NBC.
