By Clint Riese ’05

At 32, Alana Deutschmann Olson ’08 already has squeezed a lot out of life: She’s summited Mount Kilimanjaro, taught in a Taiwanese elementary school, and helped plant a church out of a hotel. At Wartburg, she created her own major (sociocultural development) and won the title of homecoming queen (just like in high school).With such zest, it’s no surprise that the Minnesota native found herself filming exercises in the snow last winter for an American Ninja Warrior audition tape. Her pursuit of a spot in the obstacle course-themed TV competition didn’t stem from another item on her bucket list, though — Olson was seeking a big platform from which to make a statement.

Medical mysteries

Most American Ninja Warrior competitors relish their often-comically brief time in the spotlight, but for Olson, it meant baring to the world insecurities with which she has wrestled for several years.

She had dealt with hair loss, cystic acne, and rashes dating back to her days at Wartburg and was diagnosed with alopecia in 2009, but her health issues began to spiral and multiply following the 2015 birth of her daughter, Zahra.

“I didn’t do much at first because I was trying to be a new mom and figured these issues were normal,” she said. “I naively thought they had to stop at some point.”

In early 2017, with her hair loss complete — including half her eyebrows and eyelashes — and her suffering from brain fog, digestive bloating, facial swelling, eczema, and more, the Olsons hit a breaking point.

“I’m not a crier, and there was a month when she started getting pretty bad where I would just weep every day because I didn’t know what was going on, and her health was deteriorating so fast,” said Alana’s husband, Paul.

So began the search for medical answers that continues to this day, along with her symptoms.

“In the last two years I’ve seen a lot of doctors and had a lot of tests done and haven’t gotten a lot of answers,” Olson said, noting that her family’s 2017 move to the Twin Cities stemmed in part from her medical odyssey. “I’ve been put through the ringer and basically told that I don’t seem to be inherently dying, that my organs are fine.” 

To minimize her symptoms, which have been categorized as autoimmune, Olson controls lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and sleep, and even gave up a part-time job she loved.

Addressing physical symptoms is only half the battle, though. To cope with the mental toll, Olson joined a “ninja” gym in August 2017 and quickly found that its social and competitive aspects provided an outlet.

“It was good to have some goals outside of the house, because it felt like we were falling short of a lot of the goals inside of it,” Paul said. “She’d come home and say, ‘I crushed this obstacle.’ Slowly but surely, we started talking about how she should audition for the show.”

A huge platform

Much prayer led Olson to audition, with one major caveat: She would control the narrative.

“I felt the Lord leading me to do it as a declaration of faith,” she says. “It’s not about my performance, it’s about using the platform to share what He’s doing in my life.”

Just before midnight on a Friday in May, following days of interviews with show producers and hours of waiting to compete, Olson climbed the platform to the course’s first obstacle. The stage was set. As the cameras rolled, she tossed aside her hat, revealing her nearly bald head. Olson and her front-row fans sported shirts depicting an anchor with the word “hope.” 

“I had thought a lot about what I wanted on the shirt. There’s a verse, Hebrews 6:19, that talks about hope being an anchor for the soul, and that’s representative of who I am and why I did this,” she said. “Going through years of chronic health issues has given me the opportunity to empathize with others. Lord willing, I will be healed or get better, but if I don’t, there are people who live with disabilities or illnesses for their whole life. That’s why I wanted my T-shirt to represent me and my journey: ‘Hey, I have this hope in Christ.’” 

Olson’s night ended with a hard splash into a pool under the second obstacle, but it didn’t change her warrior spirit.

“She was on cloud nine,” Paul said. “I hadn’t seen her that joyful in a long time.” 

Since the taping, Olson has seen that God’s hand was at play. From thousands of applicants, only a hundred or so are chosen for each competition. Of those, only a third make it into a given episode like she did. Olson has been able to further share her story and make connections by posting her audition tape online.

Of course, Olson’s biggest fan can be found under her own roof.

“Zahra is constantly saying she wants to be a ninja warrior like mom,” Paul said. “She doesn’t see Alana for her health issues. Rather, Alana is an inspiration. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zahra tells us we need to shave her head!”