Millions of viewers tuned into Ninja Warrior UK last weekend and were captivated by a tie featuring a North Lanarkshire businessman.
Robert Bandosz, 32, who runs an electrical business in Motherwell stormed over the course in well under a minute.
But he was delighted that his tremendous performance was upstaged by rival competitor Mat Armitage who lost the bottom half of one of his legs in a motorbike accident.
When Robert realised he’d been drawn in qualification against Mat it left him with conflicting emotions at first.
Mat, who had appeared in a previous series before his accident, stole the show despite losing the heat to Robert, by beating the wall and finishing the course – the first amputee to do so. And Robert dropped to his knees in recognition of tearful Mat’s incredible achievement.
“I felt a bit confused at first when I knew I was going to compete against a person who had lost his leg in an accident,” said Robert. “But everyone knows the Armitage family for doing parkour and freerunning. Mat came to me and told me not to worry about him but to do my best.
"There are a lot of competitors who don’t complete the track. Mat was a bit stressed that he wouldn’t complete it because of his leg but I said, ‘Look at my friend in Poland, he lost his leg in a motorbike incident’. I showed him a video of my friend who almost made the final and this helped give him belief.
"Mat infected me with his positive energy. I realised that we didn’t meet by accident and limitations are only in our heads.”
Robert, who runs a personal fitness and training business in Warsaw, moved to Scotland as a teenager after leaving school. He trained to be an electrician at North Glasgow College in the Springburn area of Glasgow before moving to Motherwell.
“My mum and my step-dad live in Carfin," he revealed. "I came to Scotland in 2006 and went to college in Glasgow. In 2012 I moved back to Poland but I have two businesses, I’m a personal trainer and dietician. And with my dad, who died just last year, we had the electrician’s company in Motherwell.”
While he is a newcomer to the Ninja Warrior UK programme, Robert is a seasoned-pro having previously competed in all but one series of the Polish version of the show.
“I’ve been in the Polish show (series) five times and only missed the fourth edition," said Robert. "We now have the sixth series on at the same time as the UK one and have already recorded the seventh but it won’t be on TV until March or April 2023.
“I applied for the UK show three years ago, exactly after Tim Champion won it, but then the show stopped because of Covid. So I’ve waited three years.
“There are different formats between the two shows. In Poland we still have the basic Ninja Warrior format, and there are a few differences. For example, in Poland there are around 200 people in the crowd but here in the UK there are about 1000. The crowd was so loud.
"In Poland it is a long recording day, where some times there are 10 or 12 hours waiting in the one place for just two or three minutes. It’s really stressful. It’s much quicker in the UK and more comfortable for your mental health. And there’s also a break of a day between the competitions here.”
Robert has a five year old son Bruno who has been taking part in Ninja Warrior training with him.
“I have my own club and my son watches me all the time and comes training with me. I’m happy he likes doing the same things as me, but I won’t force him to do sport in the future as it’s really hard work if you want to do it as a professional".
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