How Australian Ninja Warrior Paid Tribute To A Deceased Contestant In Last Night’s Ep

Last night Australian Ninja Warrior included a contestant in the leaderboard who sadly died before the show went air.

If you were watching Ninja Warrior on Sunday night, you would have seen that the episode was dedicated to Johann Ofner, a stuntman that tragically passed away after competing in the show. Just seven months ago, the 28-year-old athlete was killed in an accident on the set of a Bliss n Eso film clip.

Ofner’s Ninja Warriors run wasn’t shown on Sunday, out of respect for his loved ones and the episode paid tribute to the Gold Coast dad by instead displaying a happy snap and the caption:

“Dedicated to the life of Johann Ofner 1988 – 2017”

Via Channel 9

But if you tuned in last night, you would have seen Ofner’s name up on the leaderboard. It showed that he had made it to sixth position and would have been able to progress to the semi-finals. It’s an amazing achievement but a heartbreaking story.

Via Channel 9

The Ninja Warrior hosts Rebecca Madden and Ben Fordham skipped over Ofner’s name when reading out the list, which raises the question: why include him but not mention him?

It’s hard to tell whether including him on the leaderboard was to honour the athlete’s achievement or an accidental oversight from the show’s production team. But all in all, I think that the Ninja Warriors team genuinely only meant to show respect for Ofner and his amazing achievements.

Here is their social media dedication posted in his honour:

Johann Ofner’s infectious energy and kindness made a great impact on all who worked and trained with him during his time on #NinjaWarriorAU. pic.twitter.com/lPwgAO5G4Z

— Ninja Warrior (@NinjaWarriorAU) July 16, 2017

Whatever the case, we are all sending love to Ofner’s family and friends.