Jon Stewart tossed age expectations out the window

Jon Stewart is a seasoned vet when it comes to American Ninja Warrior. He’s been competing since season five. In that time, he’s seen younger Ninjas come and go. Jon has grown too. He’s become a grandfather. He now owns a bakery with one of his daughters.

But his dedication to Ninja Warrior has never changed. He returned for season 10 on the Dallas Qualifying course at the age of 56. This was also the first time we saw the new young Ninjas that can compete with the lowered age limit of 19.

While those young ‘uns put on a good showing, Jon showed us all that age doesn’t make the Ninja.

He skipped through the Floating Tiles.

The Catch and Release took out dozens of Ninjas, but Jon had it handled.

The Bouncing Spider took him out in Denver during season nine. As he faced it again, he landed low on the poles but quickly got himself to safety.

If you watched closely, you could see Jon take a huge leap at the end of Tuning Forks.

We were so impressed with him on Crank It Up. As he neared the end of the obstacle, Jon was feeling a bit fatigued. So he just calmly took a break. One by one, he shook out each of his hands. (It kind of looks like he’s casually checking his manicure in this pic.)

Jon opted not to try for the Mega Wall. He wanted to get right to the buzzer.

Jon was one of only 13 Ninjas who completed the course that night. He also made history as the oldest competitor to finish a Qualifying course. He’ll return for the Dallas City Finals!