Zak Stolz is a young gymnastics coach who found fame in 2019 when he made it to the Grand Final of Australian Ninja Warrior, one of the toughest sports entertainment game shows on television. After an unfortunate slip at a crucial moment cost him the $400,000 prize money, he returned undeterred in 2020 to compete in the next series. He also participated in a spin-off episode called Australian Ninja Warrior: State of Origin, in which the best four ninjas from each of the country’s five states teamed up to compete against each other. Stolz, competing as part of Team Victoria, finished a very close runner-up.

Stolz hails from the town of Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Two of his best friends, Ashlin Herbert and Troy “Dirt” Cullen also live in the area and have also competed on Australian Ninja Warrior (Herbert also competed on State of Origin). The three train together when Stolz isn’t pursuing his other day job as a timberland worker.

Australian Ninja Warrior was the perfect chance for Stolz and his friends to prove their athletic skills and potentially win some big money. The show was conceived as a version of the long-running and highly popular Japanese show Sasuke, in which contestants pit their strength and stamina against a range of increasingly tough events. The Australian version is certainly a challenge, with snake runs, propeller bars, and warped walls to be overcome. In 2019, Stolz was one of just a handful of contestants to make it to the grand final, a feat that has won him tens of thousands of fans on social media.