For the past three years on “American Ninja Warrior,” Mady Howard has fallen on the fifth obstacle of the qualifying course.
Even though making it that far each season has always earned her a spot in the next round of competition, it likely doesn’t provide the kind of satisfaction that comes with completing the course and hitting the buzzer — a feat she accomplished back in Season 12.
So when Howard once again reached obstacle No. 5 on the Season 17 course — after successfully navigating the log runner obstacle that has tripped up so many ninjas this season — she paused to wave to her husband, Tyler, and 3-year-old son, Beckham, and took a deep breath before moving forward.
On the fifth obstacle, called the Ferris Wheel, Howard had to use her upper body strength to work her way across two large wheels that were spaced a few feet apart by hanging on to swinging handles.
The 29-year-old competitor from St. George, Utah, steadily worked through the course and made it to the final handle. She took a few seconds to swing back and forth before letting go and landing solidly on the platform.
Now, all that stood between Howard and a buzzer was the 14.5-foot Warped Wall.
She raced up the wall and touched the top before sliding down. But it wasn’t over yet — she still had two attempts.
The second time around, she again reached the top and managed to pull herself up. She hit the buzzer with both hands, officially completing the course in 3 minutes and 32 seconds.
Her face said it all as she looked down at her friends and family cheering her on from the sidelines.
“Wow! I have fallen so many times on that fifth obstacle. And I was sure I wasn’t gonna fall on that dismount,” she told the show’s announcers. “And it really feels good to be up on top of this wall.”
Mady Howard becomes second mom on ‘ANW’ to hit a buzzer
While the moment marked Howard’s second buzzer on “ANW,” it marks her first time hitting it as a mother.
And as hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila noted, it’s actually just the second time in “ANW” history that a mom has hit a buzzer.
The first mom to achieve that feat was Sandy Zimmerman back in 2019 (Season 11).
Now, six years later, Howard is a part of that rare club. And during Howard’s episode, competitor Zhanique Lovett also accomplished the feat, becoming the third mom in the show’s history to hit a buzzer.
Over the years as she’s competed, Howard has balanced training for “ANW” with both motherhood and her work as a nurse at St. George Regional Hospital.
She was just six months postpartum when she competed on Season 14 — and made it all the way to the finals.
“‘Ninja Warrior’ is a great outlet for me,” Howard previously told the Deseret News. “It’s my fun outlet where I can play like a little kid on a playground, where I can go and be competitive and kind of chase my own dreams. It challenges me to be a better person and a better mom. I seriously just love it.”
Who is ‘American Ninja Warrior’ competitor Mady Howard?
When Howard appeared for the first time on “American Ninja Warrior,” back in 2019, the show’s hosts were so impressed with her strength and athleticism that they called her a “breakout star” who “instantly became one of our top competitors.”
Since that first strong impression, Howard has become an “ANW” staple — this season marks her sixth time competing.
Howard, who started competing in gymnastics when she was 6, was a gymnast at Southern Utah University.
The “ANW” veteran previously told the Deseret News that when her collegiate gymnastics career ended, she longed for the “fun, athletic competitive sport in her life.”
“American Ninja Warrior” seemed like a logical next step — there’s a gym in St. George dedicated to the competition. Howard frequently trains for the show with fellow “ANW” regulars the Beckstrands at the family’s ninja-themed gym The Grip.
Like gymnastics, she goes through the occasional mental or physical block during her training for the show, but her passion for it continues to outweigh the challenges.
“There’s always something new that I can learn,” she previously said of training for “Ninja.” “There’s always something that I could be better at. And so it’s never like you’ve reached a destination. There’s constantly things that I want to improve on. And so that motivates me to keep going.”