Warning! The following contains spoilers for American Ninja Warrior. Read at your own risk!
Jessie Graff may be one of American Ninja Warrior's elite, but even she has struggled in various aspects of the obstacle course competition. Season 11 could have been the one that broke the cycle of Graff falling short of completing the entire City Finals course. Unfortunately that itch will remained unscratched as Graff came up short again this year like she has in years past.
With that being said, Jessie Graff had plenty to be happy about following her run in the City Finals. In addition to placing 3rd overall in the Seattle/Tacoma finals, she also advanced further than any other ninja would the entire night. The effort was more than enough to earn her a spot in Las Vegas, even if she still hasn't conquered the City Finals obstacle course.
As was the case in past runs, Jessie Graff fell on what she considers to be the hardest part of any American Ninja Warrior obstacle course. Graff found herself hanging on in a grip-based upper body obstacle, and just couldn't hold on long enough to finish it out. It was a run similar to her City Finals run in 2016, where Graff gave it her all but just couldn't hang on.
This recent run, or even the 2016 run wasn't as tragic as the 2017 City Finals where Jessie Graff was mere feet from beating the course. Unfortunately, she slipped down the Elevator Climb, and has not gotten back to it to date. She did get closer in the following year, and ended 2018's City Finals by falling on the ninth obstacle. Graff earned a spot at Nationals in 2018, but ultimately dropped out do stunt work in Wonder Woman 1984.
Ironically, Jessie Graff is American Ninja Warrior's first woman to have reached and competed in the City Finals round, but still has yet to complete it. Doing so would put her in the same category as Kacy Catanzaro, who is still the only woman to have successfully completed the City Finals obstacle course to date.
That may be disappointing for Graff, but don't feel too bad as she still holds plenty of "first" records for the women category in American Ninja Warrior. That includes being the first woman ever to complete stage one in the national finals competition, the first woman to represent the United States in the USA vs. The World competition, and the second woman ever to have completed stage 1 of the Japanese series ANW was inspired by, Sasuke. Let's not forget she's a legit superhero and has been a stuntwoman in projects like Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and X-Men: First Class.
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In short, Jessie Graff may not have conquered the City Qualifiers, but don't think she's any less of a threat in the National rounds of American Ninja Warrior. Continue to keep up with the series on NBC Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and stay with CinemaBlend for all the latest news happening in television and movies.
