After that City Finals run, Jon Alexis Jr. is eyeing Stage Three

Season 10 of American Ninja Warrior has given us a lot of great runs already, but one of the best so far, in our opinion, was Jon Alexis Jr. at the Minneapolis City Finals. In the Qualifiers, he fell on the Diamond Dash, the fourth obstacle. It got him through to the City Finals, but it wasn’t his best run. Jon knew he could do more.

This is Jon’s fourth season on the show. He’s qualified for the City Finals all four times, and the National Finals two previous times. However, he’d never hit a City Finals buzzer. At 6’6”, Jon is known as The Giant, and he brought a huge run to this course. He not only bested the Iron Maiden, he had one of the best trips up the Spider Trap that we’d ever seen. When he hit the buzzer, he knocked Joe Moravsky out of first place with the fastest time, not an easy feat. It was like everything came together, Jon’s training, attitude, how the obstacles played to his abilities. There’s no way around it. It was Jon’s night.

Jon gave us some insight into how he shaped his training this season and where he plans on going in Las Vegas.

“Since last season, I went back to school. It’s been pretty tough. I’ve been juggling a little bit of work and Ninja training at the same time. More busy than in the past.”

“I haven’t found a good balance. I’ve cut back a little bit on training. But I’ve focused on a certain couple of areas that I think will help. So I might be stronger this year. We’ll never know until we test it on the course, I guess.”

“Some of the fans who stick out the most are the ones who come back to the gym I’ve been working at frequently. They become familiar faces. There are fans who are inspired by me, but their interest in it and their support inspires me. I don’t want to let them down, as well as myself.”

“I’m going to be honest. The 18 foot wall makes me a little nervous. I have the skill set for it, but because there’s such a high price on it, it messes with my head a little bit. Once I’m there, there’s not really pressure because I can still go up the 14’ in order to finish the course, but there is pressure for the 10 grand.”

“I think most of my training for Ninja Warrior is actually mental. People can focus on certain skill sets a bit, but my best training is probably doing competitions. It’s the same mindset. There are a few things that are different from the actual show, but it’s pretty similar. You have one shot and you have to experience the obstacle the first time you touch it. I think that’s the best training for me.”

“I’ll be so purely in the moment that it will be beyond words. It will just be a feeling of joy and excitement. I really enjoy being on the course.”

“If I follow my current trend, I’ll be in Stage Three this year. My expectations are breaking into Stage Three and finishing a City Finals course.”

One goal down! Jon Alexis Jr. plans on being at least one of the last Ninjas standing this season. He’ll keep working on that goal with Stage One of the National Finals on August 27.