Jamie Rahn is having one heck of a year. He got married, turned 30, moved to Colorado to work in a new business, and he returned to Ninja Warrior just as strong as ever.
Season 10 marks Jamie’s eighth year competing on the show. Currently, he’s enjoying a consecutive streak of five trips to the National Finals, which turned into six with his performances in Philadelphia. This is also the fourth (non-consecutive) time he’s collected the City Finals completion badge.
Jamie talked to us a bit about his favorite memories from Philadelphia, what he’s a little bit worried about, and how he’ll get ready for the National Finals.
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“The season has been phenomenal. I got a patch. So I’m two for two buzzers so far.
My favorite memory from City Finals is definitely getting up that tower again and hitting the buzzer. Back to back seasons of finishing the course and being undefeated so far. The only thing that was better for me than having my experience was watching Chris Wilczewski just blare through everything like a huge sack of meat. He is just amazing. There’s no better way to describe him. He’s just a sack of meat that destroys obstacles.”
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“If I could change anything, it would be grabbing and holding on to the 18 foot wall. I went up to it and was like ‘Alright. 50/50 shot.’ I went up and thought, ‘Probably missed it.’ Then I touched it and went down. I didn’t have the confidence that it was going to happen in the run. Knowing that now, that I had that power, that would be the one thing I’d change.”
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“It’s season 10, so I hope it’s great. I turned 30. It’s another big year. I want to go all the way. It’s that mental game that’s all that’s left. Can you do it the first time, every time?
You get the one shot, it’s something brand new that you’ve never touched before. You don’t know how it’s going to react until you get on it. Getting your brain ready to be adaptable in the moment. To walk through the course in your head as many times as you can ahead of time. Really feel the obstacle and understand what it’s going to be like ahead of time, as best you can with your imagination. That’s most of my mental training coming into it. I’ve done all the physical conditioning throughout the year. I’m not going to get much stronger. I can find a little technique, but most of it is just being confident and going with a certain technique.
I’m worried about any of the quick coordination obstacles. I got a concussion in October, so I’m still getting back from that. Getting into the parkour again has been great for footwork. But I haven’t been able to test it with high speed motion.”
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“I always assume I’m going to make it to Vegas but it doesn’t set in until you’re actually there. You gotta have your eye on the prize. You gotta be confident that you’re going to make it. I’m just assuming I’m going to make it to the tower, hit every buzzer and just enjoy every obstacle along the way.”
I don’t really change the training from one to the other (cities to Nationals). I may do more conditioning. Upper body and grip because we do now have Stage Three to worry about. A little bit of rope climbing technique, which I don’t normally do. But most of my training is just kind of playing around, finding new challenges and just trying to adapt to them.”
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“Getting to watch my friends go and succeed is going to give me so much joy and positivity to go do it myself. I expect to clear Stage One. It looks straight forward and it looks like a lot of fun.”
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If Jamie hits the buzzer on Stage One of the National Finals, it will be his fourth time doing so, further solidifying his place as one of the most successful competitors in the show’s history. The American Ninja Warrior National finals start on August 27.