After his forced one-year break, Sandro Scheibler returns to the fight for the title of Ninja Warrior Germany or Last Man Standing. On November 10th (8:15 p.m., on RTL, RTL+ and in the sport.de live ticker) he will venture into the course in the fifth preliminary round.
The well-trained Swiss, who also works for the volunteer fire department, stood sport.de answers questions in an exclusive interview and reveals, among other things, whether he dares to climb Mount Midoriyama this year. He also takes a look behind the scenes for us and explains how he spends his time while recording in Germany.
In your first Ninja Warrior Germany participation in 2021, you immediately made it to Stage III of the final. What goal did you start the new season with?
Sandro Scheibler: The goal was immediately clear. I just wanted to be better than I was two years ago. That means I definitely wanted to get back to Stage III and, if possible, improve my eighth place.
Do you also dare to climb Mount Midoriyama?
I think I could do it, but not in the allotted time. I just haven’t trained him and time is so short that it’s almost impossible to beat him without specific exercises. Until now, the special mount training was still a priority for me. But I will definitely add a little more in the future.
Before your participation in Germany, you were seen in the Swiss edition of Ninja Warrior in 2018 and 2019. What is your motivation for taking part in Germany?
The problem is that unfortunately there are no more new seasons in Switzerland. Otherwise, I would have loved to have continued to take part in my home game.
Are you interested in competing in other countries?
If so, then I would just be interested in being there in Austria. I speak English, but not so well that I have a full command of the language. I think it’s important to know the language, even if my standard German is certainly not perfect.
What was your time like during the recording of the season? Are you in Germany the entire time or do you go back to Switzerland in between?
During the last two years it was actually the case that I went home after the preliminary round. I would have actually been there in the last season, but I had to struggle with a corona infection during the recording. So I couldn’t continue there.
How did you pass the time between filming days?
You definitely have free time in between. First you’re in the studio for the preliminary round and then you have a few days off. You spend a lot of time there with the other athletes. Sometimes we go on a few trips, but sometimes we also meet up for light training sessions. It’s a bit like a vacation with lots of fun ninjas.
You discovered your passion for ninja sports very early on. At a young age you started building your own obstacles, including a training hall. How did that happen?
When I was 12 years old I saw a parkour show. The leader at the time knew my mother and then one thing led to another and I started doing parkour. That was in 2012. I trained quite heavily there, but I always said: “If Ninja Warrior ever comes to Switzerland, I’ll take part!”. That was the case in 2018.
Three weeks before the show was recorded, I built the ladder to heaven myself. That’s how it started and then I quickly caught the ninja fever. Since then I have been passionate about the sport.
Is there still room for other sports that you do besides ninja?
I still go bouldering quite often, but I no longer practice parkour regularly. I also go climbing every now and then.
Talk about climbing! Lately you’ve been seen wearing scantily on your Instagram account. Sometimes you climb with your boys only in safety equipment. How did this idea come about?
Actually, it’s always been a thing of mine to show myself like that every now and then. There are some pictures of me where I don’t have that much on. I just think we should look at everything a little more loosely. For me it is important to loosen up this style thinking. We had seen the video with the boys somewhere else and just thought it would be funny to imitate it.
What is the response to this?
Of course it’s very mixed. Some people think it’s pretty cool that people dare to do something like that. Others find it unnecessary and stupid.
Do these different reactions influence you?
No longer! Of course there are people whose opinions are important to me. Overall, I don’t really care anymore. You become much freer when you feel like you can do whatever you want. In the end, that’s what fulfills you the most.
In addition to the many sports, you also work for the volunteer fire department. What motivated you to do this?
I’ve wanted to do this for a long time because I’m a person who really enjoys helping other people. I also like the thrill and new challenges and it was a mixture of everything. I started at the beginning of 2020 and have now taken a lot of courses, so that I am now working at a lower level. You can be there for people in an emergency and I really like that. However, I haven’t had very many missions yet, not even a big one.
If you imagine that you would either be called to your first mission in full gear or go into your preliminary round on the starting platform of Ninja Warrior Germany – which thought makes you more nervous?
I think I would be more nervous at the fire department because it would simply be new territory for me. I’ve stood on the starting platform of Ninja Warrior a few times now and I know a little bit what it feels like. It’s a pretty cool comparison though.
The interview was conducted by Natalie Salewski.