Colorado Busboy Becomes First 'American Ninja Warrior,' Wins $1M (VIDEO)

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, September 17, 2015

A Colorado busboy and rock climber became the first participant to win "American Ninja Warrior, collecting $1 million for his feat.

After seven seasons of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior," part-time busboy and professional rock climber, Isaac Caldiero finally achieved history with the first win in the extreme sports competition series.

Completing Stage 3 in a tie with Maryland sports cameraman Geoff Britten, 36, both athletes settled the winning question when the 33-year-old Caldiero utilized his massive upper body strength to finish Stage 4, the difficult 30-second 75-foot rope climb course known as the Mount Midoriyama, beating Britten by three seconds.

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Both Caldiero and Britten broke records for being the first ever Americans to have completed the final course in the notoriously difficult series of obstacle courses.

This is not Caldiero's first time on the show. He had competed several times during previous seasons, but never made it as far as he did on Monday, during Season 7's finale.

Touted to be one of the best mountain climbers in the US, Caldiero's fame as a rock climber has seen him featured in a 2013 Dead Point magazine issue.

He first entered "American Ninja Warrior" in 2013 during the fifth season where he made a splash with his Jesus costume, but fell in the water during the first stage's Jumping Spider course. In 2014, he made it all the way to Stage 2, but wiped out on the Double Salmon Ladder.

This year, cheered on by his girlfriend, Laura Kisana, and his two training partners, Brian Arnold and Noah Kaufman, Caldiero made it all the way to the end of Stage 3.

Proceeding to the tie breaking Stage 4, completed earlier by Britten, Caldiero scaled the nearly 23-meter long rope and topped Britten's time to become the person first in over six years and 3,500 contestants to win the "American Ninja Warrior" championship, and take home the $1 million cash prize.