Connecticut teenager competes in semifinals of ‘American Ninja Warrior’
Jordan Carr, 14, of Easton, is a student at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, a trainer at New York City Ninja Academy and a former competitive rock climber.
Now she can add “American Ninja Warrior Junior” semifinalist to her resume. Carr competed in the season 3 semifinals of the show, which aired on Peacock on Dec. 2.
“American Ninja Warrior Junior” is the children’s version of “American Ninja Warrior.” In the show, competitors participate in a series of obstacle races.
“I definitely felt a lot more confident on my speed and my ability to get through obstacles,” said Carr, who returned to the show after competing in the second season. “It was easier in a lot of ways because I had more experience and I had been training more for it. But it was hard in other ways too, because of COVID I felt that my training wasn’t at the optimal level.”
Carr was a competitive rock climber for five years before participating in the show. Since she started her career in ninja competitions, Carr has earned the title of the NNL World’s Strongest Ninja and placed fifth in the Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association World championship in the female pro division.
While she’s used to the pressure in competitions, being in television added to the nerves, Carr said.
“I’ve learned that the whole reason I compete is
because I love the sport. When I feel the nerves come on or I get that little wave of like ‘oh no, I don’t know if I could do this,’ I just tell myself ‘you started because you love doing it,’” said Carr.
Carr didn’t continue to the finals of “American Ninja Warrior Junior,” but she’s looking forward to
continuing her training and hopefully participating in the adult version of the show, recently allowed teenagers as young as 15 to participate in the adult version.
“I just sent [the application] about a week ago, so I’m hopeful that this season will be my debut on the adult show,” said Carr.