This was the third season Elijah Browning took part in the American Ninja Warrior competition on NBC, and the Tennessee athlete is only 18-years-old. That’s remarkable. “Super-blessed to get my dream handed to me a little early,” explains Elijah. He had been competing in Ninja Warrior-type local competitions since he was ten years old, hoping to be trained up when he became old enough to compete for the national TV production. At the time a contestant was required to be at least 19 years old. But something unexpected happened for Elijah. “I got a call out-of-the-blue when I was 16-years-old” from the host of American Ninja Warrior offering an age exception and invitation.
The competition “is the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done, by far … and also the greatest reward.” Elijah details this in our complete podcast interview.
He also points to his support team, including his mother, Renee, who was on-set with him, helping with mindset encouragement. Elijah sees the Ninja Warrior competition as “70% mental, 30% physical.” Reflecting back on his first season of show competition (Season 13), “I looked at my mom and I was like – ‘I don’t think I can do this.'” Elijah admits he was feeling “shaky, and I’m about the throw up, and I’m so nervous. Me and my mom grabbed a couple of other Ninjas who I looked up to, who were Christians, and they just prayed over me. And they’re like, ‘God, I pray that you give Elijah peace and he’ll be able to go out there and do what he does.' And if not for that moment, I still don’t know if I would have gone out there, but after that prayer I was like, ‘Man, I trained my whole life for this. I know I can do it. Let’s go.' And I ended up being one of five players that night on the show. It was a huge triumphant moment to start my career off with a buzzer and it led to a lot of success in the future.”
On the TV season just ended, Elijah made it all the way into the finals, to “the last obstacle in stage 3, which is only 4 stages, so I was right there at the end. And I ended up placing 9th out of everybody in our pack this year. So, pretty awesome season.” In our podcast, Elijah shares the tough task of having to race against his best friend, Kaden, and how he balances that with his friendship and faith.
This year’s winner was Vance Walker, who, despite cerebral palsy, finished impressively. He is only the third person in 15 years of the competition to win the million-dollar award – and he, too, is only 18. Although the players are fierce competitors, they also support one another. Elijah told us, “Congrats to Vance. He killed it man – and he proved to everyone that it can be done, especially at a young age, which is really, really cool.”
From a mother’s point of view, how has the family been able to handle all of this? “Lots of prayer,” Renee smiled. “It’s been an amazing journey and we feel so blessed that God has opened the doors he’s opened for us to be on this American Ninja Warrior journey.”
“I saw a dream in Elijah. I saw a spark. I knew that he had the drive to push for what he really wanted to do. And I knew this was going to be a passion for him, so we just dove in headfirst and God just opened up amazing doors and allowed us to build relationships all over the country that we just value so much.”
Facing the real obstacles that life brings
Renee shares, “Life is filled with lots of obstacles. Ninja Warrior has been a great metaphor for the obstacles in life – and he’s been able to walk through those – and know that failure is a part of living life and he’s not going to win every competition. He is not going to do great on every course. And a lot of kids and people are watching how he responds (on the TV show), and I know that he relies on his faith in the Lord to help him to have the best attitude even when he doesn’t feel like he’s done his best.”
Renee also shares that the Browning family is currently walking through a major obstacle. She is being treated for breast cancer, “and so I’m going through some pretty intense treatments right now, but we’re just seeing how God is right here with us through this obstacle,” and she thanks God for the “incredible support system” she and her family has, saying “we have joy through this journey and God has been so faithful…”
In our complete podcast interview below, Elijah shares about gym workshops he’s holding to help young people identify the obstacles in their own lives, and lay in a course to overcome. And you may be amazed at all the other things going on in Elijah’s life and his plans for the future.
Video: Elijah in action
