American Ninja Warrior Season 8 brings competitors from around the country to select cities to see if they have what it takes to tackle a series of challenging obstacle courses.
Flora Hyacinth, a San Diego Chiropractor and Fitness Studio owner, is among them.
"I've watched the show off and on a couple years and you're like, ah do I think I can do it? And I don't know why, but last year, I thought I can do this," Hyacinth said.
She certainly had the resume to grab the show producers’ attention. Hyacinth is a three time Olympic Long Jumper who competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney for U.S. Virgin Islands.
"I think, once an athlete, always an athlete and the idea of being able to compete at that level again was something I really couldn't pass up," Hyacinth said.
At 50 years old, the former track & field star, still looks like she can compete against athletes half her age.
She credits her recent fitness level to a workout routine called “Flo Fusion”, which she invented, and turned into a business: “Flo Fusion Fitness”.
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Hyacinth uses the combination of yoga, pilates, and resistance training inside her Mission Valley studio to help clients who may have underlying knee and hip pain to lose weight and gain muscle tone.
“So this allows them to get a really great workout, burn a lot of calories, but not put any additional stress on those joints," she said.
A non-disclosure agreement kept her from saying how well she did in the Los Angeles qualifying rounds.
Filming of the show’s finals round in Las Vegas still hasn’t started.
"I had a blast, tried my hardest and I'm in it till I can't do it anymore. I'm a ninja for life," she said.
American Ninja Warrior Season 8 premieres Wednesday June 1st at 8 p.m. on NBC 7.
