Jessie Graff’s bold, strong and totally shocking run

Jessie Graff faced very high expectations when she stepped on to Stage One of the American Ninja Warrior National Finals.

After a stellar season eight, season nine had also been a blockbuster for her. In both the Daytona Qualifiers and City Finals, she was in the top field of competitors. In the City Finals, her jaw-dropping run left her in fourth place overall for the night.

The fans were settled in to watch Jessie clear Stage One and return to Stage Two. But this is American Ninja Warrior. Nothing is set in stone. Jessie’s skills created a strong run, and one tiny miscalculation gave us the biggest plot twist of the season.

Jessie breezed through the Propeller Bar and the Double Dipper.

On Parkour Run, she slowed down just enough to make sure she had body control on the rope, getting to the landing platform on the first swing.

A quick breath before the Warped Wall, and she put that in her rear view mirror.

Jessie is usually confident on balance obstacles and the Domino Pipes were no different.

Then it was the Flying Squirrel. This was it. Jessie HAD this run. She just needed to transfer to the cargo net and climb to the top in 34 seconds, which was do-able for her.

She made the final lache and grabbed the net.

And we watched in horror as it slipped through her fingers.

Even Jessie was left in shock. There were no warning signs that things might go wrong. It just... happened. In a split second, Jessie’s season nine was over.

But, that doesn’t detract from what Jessie has accomplished all season. We’re sure she’ll just use this as motivation to come back next season stronger than ever!