When 19-year-old Anna McArthur tackled a difficult obstacle on “American Ninja Warrior” earlier this season, the show’s co-host, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, excitedly declared: “She’s out here on a mission!”
Gbaja-Biamila’s words, spoken last fall during filming for the season, now have a double meaning.
When the episode aired on July 20, McArthur was just starting her 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Now, as the four-time “American Ninja Warrior” competitor from St. George, Utah, is serving as a missionary in Columbia, South Carolina, viewers are watching her most impressive run on the show to date.
Here’s a look at McArthur’s exciting run so far this season — which includes achieving a milestone she’s had her eye on since she first started competing on “ANW” at the age of 16.
Conquering a ‘nemesis’
Every year McArthur has competed — Seasons 15-18 — she has advanced past the first round of the competition.
The second season she competed, she made it all the way to the national finals.
But going into Season 18, the 5-foot-tall teen had still never completed a full obstacle course and hit the buzzer.
“Getting a buzzer has been a dream for a long time,” McArthur said during a montage that showed her repeatedly splashing down on the fifth obstacle, which she called her “nemesis.”
During the Aug. 3 episode — which had her competing in a regional finals for a spot in the national finals — McArthur had a large support group from Utah on the sidelines, including her parents and sisters.
As she navigated the course and reached the yet-to-be-conquered fifth obstacle, the “ANW” hosts praised her steady progress over the years, and noted her growth in self-confidence. The obstacle put the strength of McArthur’s grip to the test, but she held on tight and kept pushing forward.
And for the first time in her four seasons on the show, she made it past the fifth obstacle.
With her family loudly cheering — and one of her sisters crying — McArthur ran up the 14.5-foot Warped Wall and hit the first buzzer of her “ANW” career.
It was a major and emotional milestone, but McArthur still wasn’t done fighting for a spot in the national finals.
McArthur’s run time of just under 2 minutes and 15 seconds placed her fourth among the top six women. After that feat, she had to compete against two of her fellow female competitors in a triple-header race — including Anabella Heinrichs, the woman with the fastest time in the previous round.
McArthur’s other competitor, Maggie Owen, unexpectedly splashed down during the first obstacle. So it quickly became a neck-and-neck race between Heinrichs and McArthur.
Heinrichs led by a hair for the majority of the race, but during the last few seconds, McArthur was able to swing past her competitor and hit the buzzer, officially securing her spot in the national finals.
Who is Anna McArthur?
When she isn’t training for “American Ninja Warrior,” McArthur can often be found at her family’s business, McArthur’s Temple View RV Resort in St. George.
The campground has been in the family since her grandfather bought it in 1984, and McArthur has worked there since she was 11, helping to coordinate camp social activities and doing facility maintenance, the Deseret News previously reported.
Now the teenager, who recently earned her associate degree in general science from Utah Tech, is an office manager at the resort.
Over the years, McArthur said during the Aug. 3 episode, people have come to the campground asking, “Where’s the ninja at?”
“It actually blows my mind how many people come in asking that,” she said.
Around the time she started working at the RV resort, McArthur gave up being a gymnast and violinist to focus on “American Ninja Warrior” training, the Deseret News previously reported.
She started watching the show when she was 7, and would record the episodes so she could watch them over and over again. Eventually, she began to recreate the obstacles in her own home.
“I’m gonna do this when I grow up,” she told her mom, per Deseret News.
Now, over a decade later, she’s hit her biggest milestone on the show and is headed to the “ANW” national finals for the second time.
Her run in the national finals airs Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. MDT on NBC.