Rachael Goldstein looks back at the run that sent her to the National Finals

Rachael Goldstein kicked off her Ninja Warrior career with a bang. Back in season eight, Rachael was part of the Fantastic Four, the historic four women who qualified for the Philadelphia City Finals. She made it to the National Finals and fell on the Propeller Bar of Stage One.

Season nine was quieter for Rachael when she fell on the Ring Jump in the Cleveland Qualifiers.

Season 10 has seen Rachael return with a vengeance. In the Miami Qualifiers, she made it to the Slippery Summit and advance to the City Finals. There, we saw her put up the best run of her career. Rachael moved through the front portion of the course with steady confidence. On the Warped Wall, she gave us all a scare when she used all three of her attempts the clear the obstacle. But with that, she advanced to the back half of the course.

Rachael conquered the Salmon Ladder and ended her run on the Crazy Clocks. The run put her in the 14th spot for the night, clearing a path to the National Finals.

Rachael reflected back on her season so far as the prepares to take on Stage One in Vegas.

“My season has been great so far! I’m so excited with how everything has gone and I’m so excited to be here in Vegas.”

“Definitely getting up the Warped Wall, for sure (was memorable). It felt so surreal to just be standing up there. And on my third try too, where I was like, ‘Alright, this is it!”

“I’ve played the Crazy Clocks over in my head where I went down. It seemed like a fast obstacle where you could get through it quickly if you did it right. So I just wonder if I had the chance to do that again, if I could get the technique down better and get through it. My arms felt fine. I just fell.”

“National Finals is a lot different with the skills. Especially on Stage One compared to the City Finals. City Finals is a lot of upper body endurance. National Finals is a lot of leg power and cardio endurance too because of the time limit. I’ve definitely been working on some different stuff.

Of course I’m a little bit nervous. But I’m going to try my best and pretend I’m at the gym. Just try to have fun.”

“I talk to myself. I try to prepare myself. I try to tell myself why I’m here. It’s to have fun. It’s not really for any other reason. I just want to go out there and have fun. Hopefully all my hard work shows.

Between season eight and now, I really think I have a shot at doing well here. Anything can happen. I hope that it all goes according to plan. We’ll see. You never know.”

Who else thinks Rachael might be able to clear Stage One? The National Finals kick off in a few weeks on August 27!