Kacy Catanzaro is a superstar competitor who inspired generations of future female athletes
when she became the first woman to finish the American Ninja Warrior obstacle course
and qualify for the final.
But there's a lot more to her than her jaw-dropping strength and athleticism on the course.
Here's what Catanzaro's life is like when she's not competing on TV.
Gymnastics star
Catanzaro had great training to prepare her to become a Warrior.
She told Esquire magazine that she started gymnastics when she was just four or five
years old and dropped everything else to pursue the sport.
In her college years, Catanzaro went on to join the Division One gymnastics team at Towson
University.
After college, she set her sights on Ninja Warrior, and she believes that her training
as a gymnast helped her succeed.
She told ESPN,
"When you get to the competition, most people don't know how their body will react to the
pressure.
But I do.
I've competed literally hundreds of times in gymnastics and trained how to do what I
need to do at just the right time."
It's the climb
We all have songs that motivate us, and it turns out that Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" is
on Catanzaro's playlist.
During a 2014 interview with Esquire, she confessed to being a fan of the Cyrus tune,
and not just because it's a song about kicking butt.
She explained,
"It's like, 'Endure the journey that you take to reach your top moment.
You might not get there right now but when you do, remember what you did to get there."
Warrior's best friend
Catanzaro has a major love for animals, but there was one in particular who really stole
her heart — her beloved dog, Mr. Mogley.
However, in 2017, when she revealed that he had passed away, she chose to honor his memory
by helping other animals, and joined forces with the national animal welfare organization
Best Friends Animal Society.
Together, Catanzaro and the organization created t-shirts with Mr. Mogley's likeness, and 100
percent of all the proceeds from this shirt went towards helping the organization and
its projects.
Thanks to the ex
Catanzaro credits a lot of her success to her now ex-boyfriend and former coach, Brent
Steffensen.
When the two were still just exchanging training and diet tips, Steffensen was offered a job
in San Antonio to test out Alpha Warrior's obstacle course, and he recommended Catanzaro
as well.
The pair began working together — and that's how their romance first started.
In 2014, she told Esquire magazine,
"He moved from L.A. and I moved from New Jersey.
We met in Texas and then about two months later we started dating.
That was almost a year and a half ago, February 2013."
An additional obstacle
At five feet tall, Catanzaro often speaks about her height and how it's been a disadvantage
to her.
She told Esquire that her size made it harder to compete on American Ninja Warrior, saying,
"Being so short is definitely a disadvantage.
In Dallas, there was part of the course where the guys could swing and with one arm reach
the next obstacle.
I had to wind up, swing, and actually let go and catch the next one with both hands.
My body was like mush at the end."
"I've been small my whole life and I've never let that hold me back before and I'm definitely
not gonna start now."
On the bright side
Perhaps one of the greatest things about Catanzaro is that she always looks on the bright side
of things, and her social media is a treasure trove of motivational messages.
Not long after conquering the American Ninja Warrior course in 2014, Catanzaro revealed
to Vulture that while she wanted to push her own boundaries, she also wanted to inspire
other women to do the same.
She said,
"I want to do these things to prove to myself, but like I've said before, I also wanted to
make these big steps for everyone, for all the women out there and for everybody else
that thinks that they can't do something or that they have an excuse."
"Kacy is the reason why I started American Ninja Warrior."
"That's right, ladies, woo!"
American pride
Catanzaro has a lot of love and respect for those who serve in the United States military
— her current boyfriend, Dave Reid, is one of them — and she has taken to Instagram
to praise veterans.
In a Memorial Day post, she wrote about how we should be grateful "for the men and women
who gave it all and have died while serving in this country's armed forces."
She also thanked those currently serving, saying that "the words never seem like enough"
and that they "deserve the greatest of thanks."
Catanzaro also praised Reid, who seven years ago was injured in Afghanistan by stepping
through a doorway that was rigged with an I.E.D.
From warrior to wrestler
Unfortunately, in 2017, Catanzaro retired from Ninja Warrior — but this also spurred
her transition into wrestling.
"No one has been a more inspirational figure to women, men, and the entire Ninja community.
Mighty Kacy will be missed."
World Wrestling Entertainment announced that Catanzaro was joining the company during a
taping for the Mae Young Classic.
Catanzaro spoke to USA Today in August 2017 about how she used to watch wrestling as a
kid, and how she was excited to take on the new challenge.
After multiple offers to join WWE, she was finally ready to accept.
She said,
"For a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be brought to me a handful of times — I knew
that it was rare, and I was getting older.
I want to be somewhere where I can make the biggest impact I can."
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