Thursday, Jun. 25, 2015 by Kate O’Toole, Special to the Times-Mirror| 2 comments | Email this story
It’s no surprise that it takes extreme physical strength to appear on “American Ninja Warrior,” but what most likely earned Andrew Chapman the opportunity to compete was his personality.
A 24-year-old Air Force officer who describes himself as a goofball, Chapman seems to have had some of that “It” factor necessary to be chosen to compete. He has worked as a radio disc jockey and grew up living in exotic places, Thailand and Korea to name a couple.
While living abroad, Chapman learned martial arts and taekwondo, which helped him with the acrobatics necessary to compete.
“It’s not always necessarily the bigger guys that do better,” he said. “A lot of it you have to be nimble and quick. If you don’t have the agility it can backfire on you.”
Chapman made an audition tape and filled out an extensive questionnaire before being chosen to appear on the show, which airs on NBC. To train, he set up his own routine at an obstacle course gym in Colorado – a “ninja warrior training grounds,” he described it.
The episode was a military-only challenge that taped in early June. Chapman speculates his episode will air in August.
What you will not gather from watching the show is that it was actually filmed in the middle of the night. Chapman arrived at 11 p.m. but didn’t run the obstacle until 5 a.m.
Despite the exhaustion, Chapman says the room was filled with the energy of participants cheering each other on.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” Chapman said. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve had.”
With his athleticism, Chapman may be suited for a career alongside his father, Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman.
Kate O'Toole 