Yamamoto Shingo (山本 進悟) is a gas station manager from Tokyo. He is part of the SASUKE All-Stars. He is the only person to have competed in every SASUKE competition, and the only person to have attempted the first and second version of the Final Stage. He usually competes in his gas station uniform shirt and cap (always with Esso/Mobil branding); he has only competed without it four times (SASUKE 1, 4, 28 and 29).
Personal History
Much note is made of Yamamoto's career and personal successes. These include his promotions at the Hasegawa service station, where he started as a gas jockey in the 1st Competition. He became manager before the 6th and was announced as a district manager at the 17th. His personal achievements include his marriage after the 5th competition and the building of his home in Tokyo, complete with a SASUKE training course.
Of the 27 tournaments he has entered, he has passed the First Stage 15 times, the Second Stage 11 times, and the Third Stage twice. He is one of only four competitors who have reached the Final Stage more than once (the others being Omori Akira, Nagano Makoto, and Urushihara Yuuji). Despite his amazing record, he and Takeda Toshihiro are the only All-Stars to have never worn #99 or #100, though he has worn high numbers numerous times after SASUKE 3. Yamamoto also competed on VIKING, failing the Swing Mast, the next-to-last obstacle in the first stage after his feet touched the water.
SASUKE
Early Success
In the early years of the show, he was one of the people thought most likely to beat the course due to the fact that he made it to the Pipe Slider in SASUKE 2 but came short of the Final Stage. In the 3rd Competition, he made it to the Final Stage for the first time but came up about 2 meters short. In SASUKE 4 he struggled on the Rolling Maruta and painfully failed the Yureru Hashi. In the 5th Competition, despite having an injury on his left shoulder before the second stage, he was the only man to beat the second stage (with only around 0.3 seconds left) and to reach the Third Stage. He made it to the final obstacle, the Pipe Slider, but failed the landing to the mat. He had paved the way for a 100% completion rate on the Second Stage up to SASUKE 6. Unfortunately, he was to fall on the Rolling Maruta in Stage One during the competition.
In the 7th Competition, he was the only person to reach the Final Stage. However, his attempt ended almost immediately after it began when he dislocated his shoulder just seconds after beginning the Spider Climb. In the 9th Competition, he returned to the 3rd Stage. He completed the main part of the Rumbling Dice, but landed poorly on the platform and fell off. In SASUKE 8 and SASUKE 10, he performed poorly, timing out on the First Stage's Rope Climb in both competitions.
Between SASUKE 11 and 17, Yamamoto consistently made it to the 3rd Stage. However, he never made it past the Cliffhanger, failing there in SASUKE 11 and SASUKE 12. In SASUKE 13 he would clear the first stage, but time out on the Wall Lifting.
In SASUKE 14 he would take revenge on the Wall Lifting and fail the Curtain Cling in the Third Stage. In SASUKE 15 he would barely clear the First Stage with 3.88 seconds left. In the Second Stage he cleared with the fastest time of 10.1 seconds. In the Third Stage he would fall early on the Body Prop which he had passed in the previous tournament. In SASUKE 16 he performed poorly as he nearly fell from the Sandan Rolling Maruta and Cross Bridge, and when he reached the Jump Hang his feet skimmed the water, disqualifying him. In SASUKE 17 he would once again fall on the Body Prop.
Shin-SASUKE
During Shin-SASUKE (the era after Nagano Makoto's kanzenseiha), his results were lackluster as he failed the First Stage 5 straight times. In SASUKE 18, he made it far into the First Stage. But while trying to reach the net of the Flying Chute, his hand missed the rope, and he fell into the water. In SASUKE 19, he showed decent speed (getting caught up in the Pole Maze), but landed poorly on the Jumping Spider and fell.
In SASUKE 20, his run was perfect up until the Half-Pipe Attack. He reached the rope, but when landing, he failed to steady himself and fell off the side of the mat. In SASUKE 21, he avenged his defeats of the past two tournaments and made it back to the Flying Chute. He had plenty of time (almost one full minute), but did not have enough momentum to reach the net underneath the Flying Chute. Eventually, his foot grazed the water, and he was eliminated.
In SASUKE 22, his run was, again, perfect up until the Half-Pipe Attack. Like his run in SASUKE 20, he beat the main part of the obstacle, but fell into the water on the plank connecting the Half-Pipe Attack to the Soritatsu Kabe, apparently failing to notice that the path was angled differently from previous tournaments.
Finally, in SASUKE 23, Yamamoto was able to clear the First Stage for the first time in Shin-SASUKE. He added to this success by clearing the Second Stage with little time to spare. However, while attempting the Arm Rings - the Third Stage's first obstacle, Yamamoto re-injured his shoulder, and he gave up on the obstacle to prevent further injury.
Keeping his perfect attendance record intact, Yamamoto attended SASUKE 24. He performed well up until the Half-Pipe Attack, an obstacle that has given him all kinds of trouble in the past. Yamamoto made a common mistake of failing to set foot on the Half-Pipe Attack platform and retreating back to the wall, this happened twice until he finally landed on the platform. It took him several attempts to clear the Soritatsu Kabe and he knew he did not have enough time to clear the stage when he reached the Slider Jump. Moving very slowly through the rest of his run, he ultimately timed out before he could attempt the Rope Ladder. This brought Yamamoto's first stage failure count to 11.
Kanzen Renewal
Still keeping his perfect attendance record intact, Yamamoto went to SASUKE 25 and did the best out of the All-Stars in that competition. He had small struggles in the First Stage, but cleared with 6.85 seconds left. In the Second Stage, he showed the performance worthy of an All-Star on the first few obstacles. On the redesigned Balance Tank, he tried to jump midway through the track like he had done in previous tournaments. However, he couldn't grab the rope and failed. However, this is his first time Shingo made it the furthest out of the All-Stars since SASUKE 7 and his first time failing the Second Stage since SASUKE 13.
In SASUKE 26, Yamamoto wore #94 and was one of just three All-Stars to attend. During the tournament, he cleared the first two obstacles easily. However, on the Rolling Escargot, he lost his footing and failed there, that being his earliest failure since failing the Rolling Maruta in SASUKE 6.
In SASUKE 27 Yamamoto wore #81. He took his revenge on the Rolling Escargot and made it all the way to the Spin Bridge where he fell at the last ball.
SASUKE RISING
In SASUKE 28, Yamamoto wore #98, his highest bib since SASUKE 17. Despite his high number, Yamamoto surprisingly failed the Spin Bridge for the second time in a row. Before SASUKE 29, there was a rumor that the All-Stars would no longer compete, but the rumor was false, as Yamamoto competed again, wearing #36 alongside his fellow former All-Stars, Nagano Makoto and Takeda Toshihiro. He managed to clear the 1st Stage for the 1st time since SASUKE 25 showing decent speed. However, on the 2nd stage, he was unfamiliar with many obstacles and he fell victim of the reduced time limit. He reached until the middle of the Backstream before retreating and stopping there, timing out. In his post-run interview he stated that he was surprised by the power of the Backstream's current as he is a good swimmer.
Viking
Yamamoto made an appearance in the 2nd VIKING competition. Unfortunately, he failed the First Marine Stage on the Swing Mast obstacle.
Sportsman
In January of 2010, Yamamoto along with fellow SASUKE All-Stars Nagano Makoto and Takeda Toshihiro, made his debut in Pro Sportsman No. 1 with the 2010 Monster Box competition. He cleared up to the 13th level, failing on the 14th level at 2 meters, 16 centimeters.
Trivia
- Yamamoto is the only competitor to have attempted the First and Second version of the Final Stage.
- He is the only man ever to have attempted all four versions of Stage 2's Spider Walk.
- He is the only man to have competed in every single SASUKE competition.
- Despite going second furthest in SASUKE 3 and furthest in SASUKE 5 and 7, he and Takeda Toshihiro are the only All-Stars to have never worn 99 or 100.
- Not counting Takeda's performance in SASUKE 19 as a Soritatsu Kabe failure, he and Takeda are the only All-Stars never to have failed this obstacle.
- He is the only All-Star to have never cleared Version 3 of the Cliffhanger.
- He was the first man to clear the Ugokukabe, Spider Climb, Hang Move, Version 2 of the Spider Walk, Body Prop and Version 2 of the Cliffhanger.
Results
SASUKE
VIKING
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Failed Goren Hammer (Second Stage) | Cleared all five hammers, but lost his balance and fell at the end. |
| 2 | 20 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | |
| 3 | 13 | Failed Rope Climb (Final Stage) | Time Out. About 12.5 meters up. |
| 4 | 98 | Failed Yureru Hashi (First Stage) | |
| 5 | 98 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | Failed Jump. Last Man Standing. |
| 6 | 96 | Failed Rolling Maruta (First Stage) | |
| 7 | 97 | Withdrew, Spider Climb (Final Stage) | Withdrew due to injury. Last Man Standing. About 2.5 meters up. |
| 8 | 98 | Failed Rope Climb (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 9 | 98 | Failed Rumbling Dice (Third Stage) | He completed the main part of the obstacle, but landed poorly on the platform and fell off. |
| 10 | 998 | Failed Rope Climb (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 11 | 98 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | |
| 12 | 96 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | |
| 13 | 76 | Failed Wall Lifting (Second Stage) | Time Out. His left foot was trapped by the third wall. |
| 14 | 98 | Failed Curtain Cling (Third Stage) | |
| 15 | 95 | Failed Body Prop (Third Stage) | |
| 16 | 97 | Failed Jump Hang (First Stage) | Course Out. His feet grazed the water. |
| 17 | 98 | Failed Body Prop (Third Stage) | |
| 18 | 61 | Failed Flying Chute (First Stage) | |
| 19 | 81 | Failed Jumping Spider (First Stage) | |
| 20 | 1981 | Failed Half-Pipe Attack (First Stage) | Failed Landing. |
| 21 | 71 | Failed Flying Chute (First Stage) | He caught the rope at the end of the obstacle, but came to a dead stop. His foot skimmed the water while trying to gain momentum. |
| 22 | 31 | Failed Half-Pipe Attack/Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) | He completed the obstacle, but proceeded with great haste and fell off the path to the Soritatsu Kabe. |
| 23 | 93 | Withdrew, Arm Rings (Third Stage) | Withdrew due to injury. |
| 24 | 96 | Failed Tarzan Rope (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 25 | 90 | Failed Balance Tank (Second Stage) | Failed when jumping to the rope. |
| 26 | 94 | Failed Rolling Escargot (First Stage) | |
| 27 | 81 | Failed Spin Bridge (First Stage) | |
| 28 | 98 | Failed Spin Bridge (First Stage) | |
| 29 | 36 | Backstream (Second Stage) | Time Out. |
| 30 | 2992 | Failed Backstream (Second Stage) | Time Out. Began to have difficulty breathing. |
| VIKING | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 72 | Swing Mast (First Marine Stage) | His foot skimmed the water. |
Sportsman
| Sportsman | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | N/A | Failed 14th level (2m, 16cm) | 50 competitor Monster Box competition. |
External Links
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