Badass Mom of Three Makes History on ‘American Ninja Warrior’

Mom of three Sandy Zimmerman is a warrior, or rather an American Ninja Warrior. Zimmerman, a 42-year-old gym teacher from Washington, is the first mother to ever beat the obstacle course and hit the buzzer on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior. Oh and she’s also one of the oldest competitors—male or female—to conquer the challenge. No big deal.

“I wanna hit that buzzer for all of the moms out there, not just for me, but I feel like it’s a ‘we,’" she explains in footage filmed before the competition. “We so often put everything for us on the back burner.”

Courses on American Ninja Warrior are designed to challenge even the most fierce competitors. As the season progresses, each course gets increasingly harder. This episode was a city qualifier for the Seattle-Tacoma area. The phys-ed teacher made the entire course look like a breeze, and eagerly took on the notorious Warped Wall. She conquered it on her second try—every competitor gets three attempts—and was overwhelmed with excitement and adrenaline when she made it to the top and hit the buzzer on behalf of every mom. She’s now the only mother and the oldest women to do so in the show’s 11 seasons.

As a long-time athlete, Zimmerman is used to being pushed to her limits. American Ninja Warrior lists her as a national Judo champion, and she’s also a former basketball player for Gonzaga University, according to The Spokesman-Review. Athletics seems to run deep for the entire Zimmerman family. Two of her kids, Brett and Lindsey, have also competed on American NInja Warrior Junior.

The mom’s journey will continue during the upcoming Seattle/Tacoma city finals airing on Aug. 12.