Defending 'Ninja Warrior' women's champ makes abrupt and shocking exit from the finals

As Stage 1 of the American Ninja Warrior finals wrapped up Monday, the defending champion of the first-ever Ninja Warrior Women’s Championship from back in May, Meagan Martin, was looking to advance to Stage 2 of the finals for the first time in her sixth try.

Martin, who is a model, rock climber and Olympic commentator, beat out 12 other women to earn the crown of Women’s Champion earlier this year. She was also the first woman to hit a buzzer during qualifying this season, and would have been the third woman to hit the buzzer in Stage 1 of these finals, but apparently she needed to be less of a climber, and more of a surfer.

With her mom and dad watching from Florida via video feed, and a group of Ninja Warrior veterans cheering her on from the sidelines, Martin could barely get three steps into the opening obstacle, the Slide Surfer, before she ended up falling forward too fast and into the water.

“A stumble on the first obstacle takes out the legendary Meagan Martin,” host Matt Iseman said.

While her friends and family were definitely in shock, one viewer on Twitter pointed out that things aren’t actually all bad for Martin, who just turned 32 over the weekend.

And what better reason to just laugh the whole thing off, which is exactly what Martin did after she got out of the water.

“I just slipped,” Martin said with a smile. “Don't worry. I'm — I mean, whoops. That happens. Sorry, everybody. That's so embarrassing.”

American Ninja Warrior airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Watch how a teenager with cerebral palsy has continued to dominate American Ninja Warrior:

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