Quick Facts
Biography
David Campbell (born June 23, 1977) is an American athlete and musician, known for performances on the Japanese program, Sasuke, and its USA equivalent, American Ninja Warrior.
Career
Campbell (デイヴィッド・キャンベル) started his Ninja Warrior career winning the fourth American preliminary competition, the American Ninja Challenge, and earning a place in Sasuke 22. In Japan, he failed the first stage, making it to 'the rope ladder' before timing out (the final obstacle). That year, that was farther than all other American competitors and Japanese All-Stars.
Campbell tried out in the first American Ninja Warrior, clearing the first two stages with one of the top times. During boot camp, he committed a rules infraction on one of the beach obstacles, and while it was noted that several other competitors got away with the same infraction, he was forced to redo the obstacle and lost a qualifying spot for Sasuke as a result. His nephew, Travis Furlanic, did qualify, ultimately failing at 'the jumping spider' in Japan.
In order to practice for future competitions, Campbell built a replica of the entire first stage as well as several second and third stage obstacles in his backyard. Campbell's course was featured on G4's Attack of the Show, Men's Health, and on TruTV.
In American Ninja Warrior 2, Campbell made it out of Boot Camp with a qualifying spot. In Sasuke 26, cleared the First Stage with the fastest time (21.51 seconds). He then went on to clear Stage 2 with 23.4 seconds. In Stage 3, he slipped while transferring to the fourth ledge of 'the ultimate cliffhanger'. Again, he performed better than all other Americans in the competition.
In American Ninja Warrior 3, Campbell qualified for Sasuke 27. In the First Stage, he had the fastest time, finishing with over 44 seconds left on the clock (setting a SASUKE speed record). Campbell made it to the third stage, where he slipped on the sixth and final ledge of 'the ultimate cliffhanger'. Although it is often stated on the program that this is the farthest any American had ever gone on the Sasuke course, it is not accurate. Actor/martial artist Kane Kosugi reached the final stage in Sasuke 8.
Campbell, his nephew Travis Furlanic, and Brian Orosco are the only competitors to make it to the finals of three American Ninja Warriors.
In 2012, Campbell competed in the 4th American Ninja Warrior tournament. He qualified with the fastest run during the Northwest qualifiers, with a time of 58.55 seconds. Both he and Furlanic earned spots in the ANW finals in Las Vegas, Nevada; however Furlanic did not compete at the Finals. Campbell failed on the "Spinning Bridge" in Stage 1 of the Finals.
In 2013, David competed the 5th "American Ninja Warrior" in the Venice Qualifiers, and got 3rd place. In the Regional Qualifiers he was one of the 4 competitors to complete the whole course, with newbie Jessie La Flair failing the Altered Cliffhanger.
In the submission video for ANW 5, David's brother sold the area where he built all his obstacles but managed to assemble a few in fellow Brian Kretsch's house.
In 2014, he competed in the 6th season and got the fastest times in the Venice Qualifiers and in the Venice Finals, and also he was one of four people that completed Cannonball Alley one of the most toughest city finals obstacles in history of American Ninja Warrior. In the Vegas Finals he failed stage 1 for the third time in a row where he failed the silk slider.
In 2015, he led a Team USA All-Star team into an all-star game versus Team China on X Warrior (Chinese: 极限勇士; pinyin: Jíxiàn Yǒngshì; lit. Ultimate Warrior), a Chinese gameshow like American Ninja Warrior.
Personal
Campbell resides currently in Los Angeles, California. He is a vegetarian.