Learn how Mathis “The Kid” Owhadi was feeling before his return to the course

It’s only Mathis “The Kid” Owhadi’s second season on American Ninja Warrior and already his return is highly anticipated by the fans. He’ll step up to the course at the Oklahoma City Qualifiers, which air Monday, June 17, at 8/7c on NBC.

In this just released teaser run, we can see that Mathis is not playing around. He know’s what’s at stake with the Power Tower and the Mega Wall and he’s cruising through the course. We’ll see his full run on Monday’s episode!

In the mean time, you can learn more about how Mathis was feeling as he prepared for this run with our interview below.

Now that you’re back for your second season, can you still call yourself “The Kid”?

MO: Of course, its been my name for like the past eight years now. At this point, that’s just my name.

How do you feel about your rookie season?

MO: Season 10 was great. Expectations were pretty high. I knew that I could fall anywhere. I knew that getting past any stage was a blessing. I hit three buzzers. I got to do USA vs The World. I got to do so many things. It was really crazy for me. It was a dream come true. It was ridiculous. Looking back at season 10, I got to do so much more than I thought I would get to do.

What’s pushing you this season?

MO: There’s a lot. Consistency. It’s still my passion. Even if there weren’t cameras, and the audience, and the fans, I would still do this because I just love running on obstacle courses and getting to play around on adult size playgrounds. I still love what I do so the motivation is still that fire inside to compete. I love the competition aspect of it.

I know I could fall anywhere, but I’ll give it 100%, go as hard as I can. We’ll see what happens.

What does American Ninja Warrior mean to you?

MO: American Ninja Warrior has given me a lot. It’s changed my life for the better, for sure. As a kid, it gave me something to let me stay out of trouble. Instead of doing stupid things, I’d go to the gym and train and got involved in the small community at Iron Sports. Now as a young adult and a representation of the show, kids look up to me, so I feel like I need to be a good role model. It’s given me a greater purpose in a sense. The ability to impact people on different levels. My life took a direction that I didn’t think it would take. I didn’t think I’d ever have fans or anything like that.

On the way up here (to Oklahoma City), it was really cool. I was at this random gas station between Texas and OKC. There was this bus of people and they were freaking out. I didn’t even have a Ninja shirt on. They just knew who I was. It was really cool and it reminded me why I do this. Being able to inspire and motivate others.

Will you be going for a fast time to get on the Power Tower or trying for the Mega Wall?

MO: I’m just going to run my course and if it happens to be fast enough to do the Power Tower, then I’ll do the Power Tower. If it happens to be good enough, then that will be great.

The Mega Wall, I definitely want to try it again for sure. I only took three steps last year and I got my fingers on top. I’m going to take an extra step this year and hopefully see if I can do a little better on that. It’s super excited to see how the show is changing and evolving with all these new aspects to it. But we’ll see how it goes.

What do you expect from yourself this season?

MO: Emotionally, I think it’s going to be weird. I don’t know. It’s always different for me. Being able to compete for me is enough. Stepping out on the course is enough. Expectations are there. I want to do good, but I also know that I could fall anywhere.