Natalie Duran
Natalie Duran is a professional rock climber and fitness model.[1][2] She first appeared on obstacle course show American Ninja Warrior in 2012 and competed again in 2016, becoming one of the first women to advance to the Los Angeles finals.[1]
Natalie Duran | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Residence | Los Angeles, California |
Occupation | rock climber, fitness model, medical researcher, YouTube personality |
Height | 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) |
YouTube information | |
Years active | 2006 - present |
Genre | |
Subscribers | 100,000 + |
Total views | 15+ million |
Early life and education
Duran was born on July 24, 1991 in Moreno Valley, CA. She graduated in 2013 from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in neuroscience. She is a staff clinical researcher at UCLA Health studying Inflammatory Bowel Disease.[3] As a fitness model, she posed while rock climbing and wearing an ostomy bag to demonstrate the device's usability and raise awareness of inflammatory bowel disease.[3]
Career
Duran first appeared on the obstacle course TV show American Ninja Warrior in 2012. She returned in Season 8 (2016) and competed in the Los Angeles qualifying round.[4] She was one of the first two women on American Ninja Warrior to get to the new 14 1/2-foot Warped Wall, and moved on to the city finals. She competed as a wildcard in the Vegas finals.[5] She is a brand ambassador for a company called Rise Bar,[6] and has also become a sponsored athlete for Mad Rock Climbing.[7] She is also a member of the original series "Team Ninja Warrior" on Esquire Network and first appeared on Season 1 Episode 2.[1]
In November 2018 she set a new Guinness World Records Title in Fastest 5m Rope Climb category.[8]
In 2019, Duran joined the cast of MTV's The Challenge: War of the Worlds. She placed 4th overall and was the only woman to complete the 2-day final challenge.[9][10] In the same year, she also competed on The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2, where she reached the final for a second time after defeating teammate Laurel Stucky in elimination.[11][12]
Youtube
Duran joined YouTube early in 2006, becoming one of the first generation of channels to create vlog style videos. Her channel "NDTitanLady" has reached up to 130,000 subscribers with over 15.5 million collective views.[13] She took a hiatus from posting consistently in 2012 due to her growing career as a medical researcher at UCLA. Since then Natalie has announced she will be posting videos again starting November 2016.
References
- Judy Lin (July 11, 2016). "UCLA's American Ninja Warrior: Natalie Duran competes in the Los Angeles finals of NBC's crazy-hard obstacle course". UCLA. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
...Natalie Duran had pulled herself up a rope to a horizontal bar 30 feet above the sands of the Santa Monica beach when she heard voices below....
- Rachel Sugar (June 2, 2016). "American Ninja Warrior Season Premiere Recap: Meet the Ninjas". Vulture Magazine. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
...Natalie Duran a "YouTube sensation," but also she is a professional rock climber and a UCLA researcher. As a "hobby," she likes to crash parties. ...
- "Natalie Duran, American Ninja, Researches Irritable Bowels at UCLA". 2paragraphs.com. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
- American Ninja Warrior (2016-06-01), Natalie Duran at the Los Angeles Qualifier - American Ninja Warrior 2016, retrieved 2016-11-21
- Lee, Nikki (2016-08-08). "Here are your Season 8 Wild Cards". American Ninja Warrior Nation. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
- "Rise Bar Advocate - High Riser Natalie Duran".
- "Mad Rock ::: Innovation. Improvement. Value". www.madrockclimbing.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
- People are Awesome (2018-11-03), Guinness World Records Official Attempt | 5m Rope Climb, retrieved 2018-11-07
- Longeretta, Emily (January 16, 2019). "MTV's 'The Challenge: War of the Worlds' Cast Revealed: Meet the Reality TV Royalty Competing in Season 33". Us Weekly. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- Jordana Ossad (May 15, 2019). "WHY THE WAR OF THE WORLDS FINAL IS THE 'MOST GRUELING' IN CHALLENGE HISTORY". MTV. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Heldman, Breanna (August 9, 2019). "The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 Cast Features Returning Favorites and One Massive Face-Off". People. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
- Donnelly, Matthew Scott (September 18, 2019). "WITH FRENEMIES LIKE THESE: A CHALLENGE GUIDE TO CARA AND LAUREL'S ROLLER-COASTER RELATIONSHIP". MTV. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- "NDTitanLady - Natalie Duran". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-11-21.