(Instagram/JonathanHorton)
American Ninja Warrior attracts many of the world’s top athletes, and tonight’s competition in San Antonio will be on exception. Two-time Olympic gymnast Jonathan Horton will be tackling the difficult obstacle course in an effort to become the next American Ninja Warrior.
The 31-year-old has been a gymnast since he was just four-years-old, and competed in the 2008 Olympic Games. Tonight, he’ll be up against the likes of Kacy Catanzaro, Artis Thompson III, Nicholas Coolridge, Brent Steffensen, and Daniel Gil.
Read on to learn more about Jonathan Horton.
1. He Is a 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist on High Bar
[embedded content]
At the 2008 Olympics, Horton won a bronze team medal and a silver in the high bar.
Horton’s debut as a senior came in 2002 at the US National Championships in Cleveland, and later that year, he was selected to compete at the Pan American games in Santo Domingo. He competed for a spot on the Olympic team for the first time in 2004, and placed 13th.
Between 2005 and 2008, Horton competed for the University of Oklahoma’s gymnastics team, the Oklahoma Sooners. During his collegiate career, he won 6 NCAA titles and 18 All-American Honors.
2. He and His Wife Welcomed Their First Child in 2013
In 2013, Horton and his wife, Haley Norton, welcomed their first child, a son named David Travis Horton.
He excitedly Tweeted, “Baby Horton has arrived! He’s freakin awesome!”
Last year, the couple welcomed their first daughter. Speaking to Chron.com in February, Horton said, “My family and my kids and my wife are my world, and it makes me realize that sports isn’t everything. I have everyday use of my shoulder. I can pick up my little girl.”
Jena Sims, Brooks Koepka’s Girlfriend: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Brooks Koepka celebrated his win at the U.S. Open with his new girlfriend, actress Jena Sims.
3. This Is Not His First Time Competing on ANW
[embedded content]
Tonight is Jonathan’s third time competing on ANW.
At the Dallas qualifying rounds in 2014, he fell on the ring toss– he was tested on the same obstacle in 2015, but was able to pull through with ease. That season, he also became the shortest man to ever scale the warped wall.
Speaking to Inside Gymnastics Magazine in Sept. 2014, Horton explained that his wife tried to convince him not to try out for ANW. “These courses are huge. It’s intimidating, but it’s something to take my mind off this.”
4. He’s Had Four Surgeries in the Past Three Years
[embedded content]
Horton has undergone four surgeries in the past three years.
The athlete is just 5’2″ and weighs about 126 pounds. According to NBC Sports, Horton hoped to become the oldest US gymnast to compete at the Olympics since 1956 before his injury.
5. An Injury Kept Him out of the Rio Olympics
[embedded content]
Horton suffered an injury to his left shoulder in February 2016 that kept him from competing for a spot on the Olympic team.
At the time, he said, “I’m not done. I hope to do more… But if I never compete again, I did as much as I could. I’ve had a great career.”
Horton attributed the incident to overuse, and the ordeal came to a head while he was training on the pommel horse. “It (his shoulder) was a ticking time bomb,” he said to Chron.com. “It had been slowly giving way without me realizing it over the last three years, and it finally went now, unfortunately, and didn’t last me until the (Rio) Games.”
Jena Sims, Brooks Koepka’s Girlfriend: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Brooks Koepka celebrated his win at the U.S. Open with his new girlfriend, actress Jena Sims.
S.M. Walsh is a contributor to Heavy covering entertainment. She has a background in entertainment, economics, and journalism. Shannon can be reached at shannon@heavy.com.June 19, 2017 7:48 pm
powered by sue.ng a legal search engine