Baltimore Orioles cameraman Geoff Britten recently became the first American to defeat the Mount Midoriyama obstacle course during a recent taping of American Ninja Warrior.
The episode showing Britten's feat aired Monday.
As Sporting News' Troy Machir notes, Britten is a 36-year-old cameraman who does freelance work for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. In his spare time, he trains to do things like climb Mount Midoriyama's final obstacle: a 75-foot rope climb that contestants must complete in 30 seconds or less.
Calling it a difficult task doesn't do this climb justice, and watching Britten go up the rope like Nightcrawler only adds to my growing suspicion that the people who excel at American Ninja Warrior are just poorly closeted mutants.
In any case, despite his radiation-altered genetics, Britten still only made it to the top by the thinnest of margins—hitting the button with 0.35 seconds on the clock.
This was an incredible moment for the show and the American Ninja Warrior community, and it wasn't even the most ridiculous part of the event.
Immediately after Britten's historic climb, Isaac Caldiero—a busboy and professional rock climber from Boulder, Colorado—upped the ante and made it to the summit with 3.86 seconds left on the clock.
Having the best time, Caldiero won the $1 million at stake for the contest. Britten, on the other hand, will have to be content with making American Ninja Warrior history and being only slightly slower at climbing than a professional rock climber.
I could live with that. Though they could've at least thrown Britten a steak or something, you know, for making it all the way to the summit of the Aggro Crag's terrifying father and whatnot.
Dan is on Twitter, waiting for a gritty Legends of the Hidden Temple reboot.
via http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2566998-orioles-cameraman-becomes-1st-american-to-complete-american-ninja-warrior
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