Last night I watched American Ninja Warrior because Internet sensation Kacy Catanzaro, a 5 ft, 100 lb athlete, was the only women competing in the American Ninja Warrior Finals. Despite 2 years of training, she simply could not complete the “jumping spider” obstacle part of the course last night. In the replays, you could see that her legs connected well with the walls, but her arms could not span the gap adequately. Evidently she worked hard on this task and likely made it during practice but men (or women) with wider arm spans have a greater likelihood of connecting with a wall with ‘all fours’.
This raises an interesting point when discussing sex equity in health and in sports. Should size matter, especially in events where both men and women compete against each other? Should obstacle courses be adjusted for body size? Both sexes train equally, but if an arm span is 6 feet verses 8 feet, the likelihood of success is less consistent for the smaller competitor. The same question holds for a 5’6″ male competing against a 5’10″ woman!
As we ponder this question, we congratulate Kacy for an amazing effort and hope to see her on the circuit again soon.!!!