Ohio man among ‘American Ninja Warrior’ contestants

Posted: Jun 20, 2022 / 07:48 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 20, 2022 / 07:48 PM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A man from Cincinnati is among contestants for NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior,” as an Olympic gold medalist and a former NFL player made an appearance on the show.

Justin Miniard made the list for the show’s contestant list Monday. He previously made a run on the series in 2019 in the Cincinnati qualifying round and made it past two obstacles before falling to the “Spinning Bridge,” according to Ninja Guide.

The network shared a clip from the Monday episode with fan-favorite couple Andrew East and Shawn Johnson. The episode marks the return of the former NFL player to the course with his Olympic gymnast wife watching his performance with “ANW” co-hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila.

“This guy was impressive when he ran the course last year,” Iseman said at the start of the segment. “Unfortunately for him, he’s only the second-best athlete in his house. We are up here in the booth joined by Olympic gold medalist, and the wife of Andrew, Shawn Johnson.”

When Gbajabiamila asked Johnson if she had been helping her husband train by “showing him a little bit” of her gymnastics background, she simply answered “No.”

In preparation for the first obstacle, East takes off his shirt, a move he explains later to sideline reporter Zuri Hall by saying, “I thought that was the obstacle I was going to fall on, honestly, so that was just to save laundry.”

Although East doesn’t make it to the end of the course this year, he vowed to give it another try next season and even get Johnson to participate beyond the hosts’ tower.

“It’s so much fun, it’s good to be back and I’m going to try to get wifey to do it next year,” he told Hall.

Johnson responded to a very excited Iseman and Gbajabiamila with, “Sure, I’ll give it a try.”

Watch “American Ninja Warrior” Monday, June 20 at 8 p.m. on NBC4.