Andy DehnartDuring the first night of American Ninja Warrior finals, Jessie Graff completed stage one of Mt. Midoriyama, the first woman to do so in the show’s eight-year history. She completed the obstacles with 12.39 seconds remaining, making her the fourth-fastest of the eight who actually completed stage one.
“I hope it will show women that feminine is strong—that we can frequently do more than people think we can – sometimes even more than we believe ourselves, if we’re willing to work for it,” she told People.
Jessie, 32, previously set other records:
- In 2013, during season five, she became the first woman to complete a city finals course.
- In 2015, during season seven, she “became the first woman to sit atop a city finals leaderboard and the only woman to qualify for the Las Vegas National Finals,” the LA Times reported.
- Earlier this season, she “finished second in the entire region, breaking her own record for the highest finish by a woman in a city competition,” ESPN reported.
- Also this season, she became the first woman to successfully scale the new 14.5-foot warped wall obstacle.
Graff is a stunt performer who’s done work on Iron Man 2, X-Men: First Class, Supergirl, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and many other TV shows and movies.
Watch Jessie’s record-breaking run through stage one and its insane obstacles: