clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Watch Jessie Graff rise to the top of the field once again

She placed fifth over all at the Miami City Finals.

It’s hard to imagine the most recent seasons of American Ninja Warrior without Jessie Graff. It seems like almost every time she steps up to the course she’s poised to break some kind of record. But, as she shared with us before the Miami Qualifiers, we almost didn’t get Jessie back for season 10.

As a professional stunt woman, Jessie is currently working on a top secret project that she calls her dream job. That also means she has to keep herself as safe as possible. Something like a twisted ankle or a pulled shoulder could keep her from fulfilling her duties at work. All the obstacles needed to be cleared with her boss before she could take on the course. She didn’t know until the morning of the Qualifiers if she could compete.

Jessie got the clearance and then cleared the course. She returned to the City Finals eyeing the buzzer at the end of the extended course, a goal she hasn’t reached yet.

The second obstacle, Cannonball Drop, had been dropping Ninjas all night. It ALMOST got Jessie in a heart-stopping moment.

One of Jessie’s tactics is to visualize every movement of an obstacle. Before the Ring Turn, she stopped and put herself through the motions to ensure a smooth trip.

The Slippery Summit was a Ninja killer during the Qualifiers. Jessie passed it then and she did it again in the City Finals.

It was time for her to return to the back half of the course.

After the Salmon Ladder, Jessie faced the new obstacle, Crazy Clocks. The difficult obstacle had sent many strong Ninjas into the water.

In one of the most exciting moments of the night, Jessie dominated the obstacle, swinging the handles around in one motion and landing each transfer. She became the only woman to beat the Crazy Clocks.

The Stair Hopper is an incredibly temperamental obstacle that allows for not even the tiniest errors. Unfortunately, Jessie had a small slip just as she started the beast, ending her run.

However, her trip through the course put her in the fifth position over all for the night, meaning she’d qualified for the National Finals once again!