Essendon Ninja Warrior Paul Lyons falls short of glory

A dual taekwondo Olympian, Essendon’s Paul Lyons has bowed out of competition craze Ninja Warrior, but the 49-year-old is anything but done with the sport.

Paul Lyons has bowed out of Ninja Warrior but has vowed to persevere.

A dual taekwondo Olympian, Essendon’s Paul Lyons has bowed out of competition craze Ninja Warrior, but the 49-year-old is anything but done with the sport.

“I’ll be doing this until I die,” Mr Lyons said.

“The camaraderie, the crowd, the people you meet exceeded the Olympics for me.”

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Mr Lyons competed on Ninja Warrior season two on Sunday night but messed up his grip on the basket toss and landed in the water just missing the third and final basket. He was two obstacles from the finish line.

“The next one was nunchuck alley, which is six sticks that hang on hinge and I have that in my gym so that was nothing for me. As I dropped in the water I thought, you’ve got to be joking,” he said.

Mr Lyons has been training in his self-built ninja gym Fighting Lyons in Essendon North for years.

Paul Lyons couldn’t quite reach the third basket. Photo: Channel 9.

Six months ago he opened up classes for kids and adults. He regularly has other ninja warriors from the show come down from Sydney to train in his gym.

At 5’3’’, Mr Lyons knew height wasn’t his strong point.

“Ninja is catered for tall reach people. I have to train for explosiveness, shorter people train like gymnasts, like little powerhouses,” he said.

Coach Paul Lyons at his gym Fighting Lyons with Daniel, Julian and Jude Saccuzzo. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The gym junkie used to be truck driver delivering beer kegs, which he used for cross training. He hung up the taekwondo gloves almost 20 years ago but felt he had left something unfinished so gave pole vaulting a go before developing his passion for ninja warrior.

He was selected for season one but snapped his achilles when training for the warped wall — a steep, curved, tall wall obstacle with a short run-up, that competitors must reach the top of and climb over.

Although Mr Lyons has been a competitive sportsman all his life, ninja warrior is “a whole new beast”, he said.

“Those obstacles are a never-ending journey of mental and physical development.”