Season 12’s final eight have barely changed since their rookie years

We thought this would be a lot more dramatic than it actually was.

By Nikki Lee@anwnation Mar 4, 2021, 11:36am PST

The top eight competitors on season 12 of American Ninja Warrior have come a long way. They’ve risen from rookies to the literally top of the game. We’ve taken a look back at the last and first times we say these Ninjas on the big stage.

That was the idea behind this article, at least. We thought it would be cool to do a side-by-side comparison of a really recent photo, and the earliest Ninja Warrior photo we could find of each competitor. Kind of a “Look at how much they’ve changed since the first time we saw them!”

Well, that flopped.

It turns out that Season 12’s top eight were all fairly young whippersnappers who haven’t changed too much in the years they’ve been on American Ninja Warrior. We mean, Amir Maik’s “last and first” both took place during season 12. But it’s still fun to look at, so let’s do this anyway.

Daniel Gil

Last time we saw him: He was busy winning Season 12.

First time we saw him: He was snapping up the fastest completion time in the season seven Houston Qualifiers.

Austin Gray

Last time we saw him: He came in second place overall for season 12 after a loss to Daniel in the final round of the Power Tower playoffs.

First time we saw him: He advanced to the Minneapolis City Finals after an unsuccessful bid for the Mega Wall in Qualifiers.

Adam Rayl

Last time we saw him: After beating Lucas Reale to the Power Tower buzzer, he ended his season with a race against Daniel.

First time we saw him: A fall on the I-Beam Cross in the Los Angeles Qualifiers still moved him on to the City Finals. (This photo is from the City Finals of that year.)

Amir Malik

Last time we saw him: He ended his season in a race with Austin Gray after he beat Jake Murray.

First time we saw him: Just a few weeks earlier, smiling his way through the Qualifiers.

Najee Richardson

Last time we saw him: He was closing out an emotional season 12 with a race against Austin.

First time we saw him: He endured an early fall in the Pittsburgh Qualifiers of season seven. (The earliest photo we could find of Najee on the course was from season eight.)

Jake Murray

Last time we saw him: After putting up the fastest runs of the season, he ended the year on the Power Tower against Amir Malik.

First time we saw him: He was kicking off his career by completing the season seven Kansas City Qualifying course.

Jesse Labreck

Last time we saw her: She was making history by being the first woman on the Power Tower, where she faced Daniel.

First time we saw her: She put up a fight against the Rolling Thunder and advanced to the season eight Philadelphia City Finals.

Lucas Reale

Last time we saw him: He faced Adam Rayl in the season 12 Power Tower playoffs.

First time we saw him: He might have fallen on the Lightning Bolts in the Philadelphia Qualifiers, but his season wasn’t over.