Jessie Graff’s second place run is still super impressive

In early February, American Ninja Warrior Jessie Graff took on a National Ninja League Qualifier at Apex NorCal in Concord, California.

The course was brutal on the upper body. In the end, Jessie did not complete the course, but the amount of time she spent exhausting her arm strength is crazy.

The course started with some balance obstacles.

But then quickly evolved into a vicious upper body onslaught.

Jessie spent a little less than four minute on the course, and she was hanging by her hands for most of that time.

She was extremely calculating, something that has paid off well during her Ninja career.

The obstacle that eventually wore her out had Jessie in a dead hang for almost a full minute.

Her grip strength finally tapped out.

In this situation, Jessie’s strategy of throughly examining each obstacle is what caused her second place ranking. The first place woman, Rebekah Bonilla, went out on the same obstacle, but her time going into it was faster.

We all know Jessie must be under serious pressure to return to American Ninja Warrior in season nine and at the very least match her record of completing Stage One at the National Finals.

Although this run wasn’t a “win,” it’s a strong indication of Jessie’s training. Her ability to stress her grip strength to this extreme will absolutely serve her well on the course.

It’s also an indicator of the strength of the female Ninjas. Jessie was not an outlier. The competition was close. This hopefully means more and more women will be breaking into the ranks of the National Finals this season.