Katie Bone, whorecently chatted with Screen Rant about herAmerican Ninja Warriorseason 17 qualifying run, burst onto the scene with an incredible appearance as a rookie sensation at just 16 years old. Hailing from Erie, Colorado, Katie didn’t just make an impression, she made history, becoming the third Women’s Champion and earning a buzzer on her very first run. Her performance was a triumph, made even more impressive by the fact that she manages Type 1 Diabetes and competes while wearing a continuous glucose monitor. Coming back to the competition after injury, Katie’s ready to make more history.
Katie is finally back after two challenging years away from the course, but her absence was no vacation. In February 2023, just a year after her victorious rookie run, Katie suffered a devastating knee injury whilecompeting at the Olympic Trials for Climbing. The injury ended her Paris 2024 dreams and sidelined her fromAmerican Ninja Warriorfor two full seasons. Katie’s recovery journey was long and tough, and while she admits she’s still not quite at full strength, she’s never lost her fire. Returning this season for another shot, Katie is once again pushing through physical and mental barriers.
In her mostrecentAmerican Ninja Warriorrun, Katie showed she hasn’t lost her edge. Crushing through the course, Katie was a sight to behold. Even with lingering effects from her injury, Katie’s competitive spirit shone through. Hitting the buzzer and continuing to the next stage, Katie made it clear her journey isn’t just about winning, but about comeback, perseverance, and proving she still has a place onAmerican Ninja Warrior. Speaking to Screen Rant about her impressive return to the competition,Katie shared more about her time on the series and gave an update on her tough knee injury.
Screen Rant: Coming into this season, you were still rehabbing a knee injury. How did it feel to get back on the course?
Katie Bone: It was, it was an incredible feeling. I was definitely very scared and just honestly didn’t trust my knee. So it was definitely scary to walk up to there, up there again. And it was scary because I felt like I had a lot of expectations. It’s kind of the last thing I did in Ninja was win the women’s championship. So that was scary, but it also felt amazing to be up there again after everything I had to go through. And all of the work truly felt worth it for me.
Screen Rant: Mixed emotions definitely make sense. So as a competitor, you’ve been able to overcome a lot of general physical obstacles and also limitations that people may not see like Type 1 diabetes. How do you keep yourself motivated?
Katie: I love to do it. So it makes it easy when you love to do it. I love competing. I love climbing. I love Ninja. I love, I love to do it all. It’s definitely hard. And I have moments where I’m super motivated and some where I don’t want to train for a while. And when I have those things where I really don’t want to train, I just don’t because even it’s for two weeks or something, because I’ve done it where I’ve kind of pushed through the, the lack of motivation and I get more burnt out and it kind of makes you dislike the sport and dislike competing.
And then it feels like you’re training just to compete. And that for me, at least it’s pretty unhealthy because it’s not fun or positive. And I kind of just run myself into the ground. So when I don’t want to, when I’m really motivated, I don’t, and there’s limits to that for sure, but it has definitely helped me when I’m having really deep parts of my life of burnout.
Screen Rant: That makes complete sense. I mean, giving yourself that grace to really not do something, if that is how you feel is always good. It’s a healthy balance.
Katie: And I can kind of come back to it and be like, Oh, I do enjoy doing this. I do like to do this because when you’re having really heavy burnout, it’s like, I hate this. Like, why do I do this? And you can’t remember why you’re doing something. Sometimes I can take that time and step back for a second and do some other fun things that I can find to do and kind of just remember my why.
Katie’s Return To The Course Was A Success
She Worked Hard To Get Back To Competition
Although Katie was a newer competitor onAmerican Ninja Warrior,her initial run on the show was the only run she had under her belt before her injury. Coming back to the course wasn’t easy, but Katie was able to work hard and get through the run, even if it was tough. Sharing that she was excited to get back into the competition,Katie revealed what her headspace was like leading up to her run onAmerican Ninja Warriorseason 17.
Screen Rant: It’s always so great to hear when people understand that other than just physical limitations or anything like that, you have a mental part of it really matters so much. Going back to the course, as you were going through it, do you remember what you were feeling or thinking when you were running it, or was it just too quick to really react to?
Katie: I kind of blackout usually when I run the course, there’s moments that I can definitely remember, but it, I kind of just really get in the zone and it feels like, and there’s so much going on and you have so many interview bites and all the things. So I definitely black out a little bit, but I definitely have little moments that I remember. And I was very nervous for agility, just because I don’t trust my knee and I’m not great at agility as it is.
But once through that, there is a lot of excitement for me because I was like, oh, okay, I can do this again. I can do these last two obstacles and the fifth obstacle I wanted to do really badly. So I was very excited to be another obstacle closer to do that.
Screen Rant: That’s awesome. I always am curious about whether people blackout or they remember the whole thing, or they have some kind of like mantra beforehand in the moments leading up to a run.
Katie: During season 14, like my qualifying run, no clue what happened. In the women’s championship, I remember every piece of it. So it kind of varies. Like I remember everything I thought of and then I can watch the episode and be like, oh, I know what I was thinking right there. I know like just random things like that. So it kind of just depends on the run for me.
Screen Rant: In terms of your process going up to a course, I know that you guys don’t really get to, you know, touch anything, see how anything works ahead of time when you’re waiting for that run. What is your process? Do you have any kind of like mental process that you go through?
Katie: I am very superstitious. I am mainly a speed climber and climbing, if you’ve ever watched speed, you start to notice that every single athlete does the exact same thing every time. So every speed is very superstitious. So for speed, I do the exact same thing. And then it kind of transferred to ninja for me, for my warmup is the exact same. It’s the exact same order. I listened to the same songs. I kind of listened to usually the same, like usually the same song.
There’s like three songs I’ll kind of listen to right before I compete. And it kind of just helps me get into that like flow, especially when I’ve had really good comps, it kind of helps my brain get back into that really good mental space. Because something kind of changes up. Like I can handle the change and deal with it as it comes and the uncontrollables, but it’s very helpful for my brain if everything is the exact same.
And I tell myself the same thing for like, for a speed climb, I tell myself the exact same thing. And then I have a little like bracelet that says, remember this moment, because a lot of the times I feel like I get so wrapped up in the moment and so serious. And so like, oh, I got to do this, this and this. And then I finished and I’m like, oh, like, that was really fun. And you kind of want that moment back, you kind of want to be up there again. And I feel like I have a hard time in the moment, enjoying it and kind of just like remembering how this feels and how exciting it is. Because I’m so wrapped up in all the other things. So that’s like a helpful thing for me to remember to just like into it, because I get to do this right now. And I’m not going to get to do this forever. And I know how it feels to lose it all. It’s very helpful for me to be like, okay, just breathe and remember this because you get to do it.
Screen Rant: That’s awesome. And that’s such a that’s such a healthy way of looking at it and being able to walk into it.
Katie: I’ll kind of sit in a corner by myself and kind of meditate, but kind of think about every single thing that I’m going to do. Like, okay, I’m gonna wipe my shoes. I’m going to tie my shoes like this. I’m going to walk up the stairs. I’m going to, I’m going to wave and then I’m going to wash, like wipe my shoes. And I’ll go through the entire course and like, this is everything I’m going to do. Like I get to the buzzer, this is how I’m going to hit the buzzer. I did that through season 15 and I executed that exactly how I imagined it before.
So it’s helpful because you see yourself doing it and you have the opportunity to do it. So visualizing that has helped me a lot to then be like, have that confidence that you know, you’re able to do this. So just breathe and trust the work that I’ve put into it to get there.
Katie Revealed A Difficult Health Update
She’s Going To Miss ANW Season 18
Screen Rant: Definitely, I’ve read a lot about that process of visualization, especially with athletes, and it seems so powerful. So now that you’ve crushed the qualifiers, other than going into the next stage forAmerican Ninja Warrior, what are you looking ahead to?
Katie: I unfortunately just had another knee surgery and I have more in three months. So it’s a good 15 month recovery. I’ll be out for American Ninja Warrior season 18, which sucks. So the Olympics are the goal. The reason I did surgery now is so that with the 15 months, I can be ready right before the next Olympic qualifiers. The Olympics are the goal. If not this next round, I’ll definitely try it for eight years from now and then do that.
Screen Rant: I’m sorry to hear about the surgery, but I’m glad you’re already planning.
Katie: It helps with the space of knowing kind of what’s next and what I’m looking towards because she sucks to be honest. And I’ve been doing PT for two and a half years, now. PT two times a week for two years and I’m very ready to be done with it. So it’s hard because at the start, when I got injured, I was motivated and I was like, okay, PT three times a day, blah, blah, like all of the things you’re supposed to do. And it felt easy then because I was getting back to something. And I was told that it was going to be nine months and I was nine months to 12 months.
And I was going to be back to where I was. But I found out I tore my meniscus again, and I needed another surgery, and then I had the surgery for that. I was like, okay, I’ll be back here and I’ll do this. And then I found out a few months ago that I tore my meniscus again and my ACL had partially torn. So it’s like, okay, we’re going to have two surgeries. It’s a long recovery, which sucks. So it’s hard to keep the motivation for PT, but having something at the end of it and planning, okay, this is what I’m working towards, slow and steady.
