Jessie Graff

Early life

Jessie Graff came into the world on January 12, 1984, to Ginny MacColl. She began circus training at six, then switched to competitive gymnastics at nine, putting in six years with the Frederick Gymnastic Club. By age twelve, she was catching fellow performers on the trapeze, following a rule that she could only catch someone if they were no more than twenty pounds heavier than her.

In high school, she pole vaulted and graduated in 2002 from Urbana High School in Ijamsville, Maryland, where she led the track team, made the honor roll, and joined the National Honor Society. She studied aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech and theatre at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, finishing at UNL in 2007. She holds black belts in Taekwondo and Kung Fu.

Stuntwoman career

Graff began stunt work in 2007 and has appeared in productions including X-Men: First Class, Make It or Break It, Another Period, Bridesmaids, Knight and Day, Bad Teacher, John Carter, Leverage, Sons of Anarchy, and The Mandalorian. She performed tumbling on Make It or Break It, trampoline work on Another Period, and stunts on rooftops, bridges, and buildings. As of 2016 her most prominent stunt work was for the series Supergirl. In the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984 she portrayed a competitor in an Amazon athletic contest and served as one of Gal Gadot’s stunt doubles.

Obstacle competitor career

Graff appeared on Wipeout in 2008, falling in the penultimate round. In 2013 she became the first woman to qualify for a City Finals course on American Ninja Warrior. She missed season 6 due to a knee injury. In season 7 she reached Stage One in Las Vegas but did not clear the Warped Wall.

In 2016 she became the first woman to finish Stage 1 at the Las Vegas national finals. In 2017 she competed in Sasuke 34, becoming the second woman ever to clear Stage 1 and the first woman worldwide to clear Stage 2, failing on the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger in Stage 3. That same year she was the first woman to compete in and finish Stage 2 in the USA vs. The World competition, which had no time requirement. In Sasuke 37 she cleared Stage 1 with 31.5 seconds left and Stage 2 with 16.8 seconds left, but fell on the Cliffhanger Dimension in Stage 3.

She appeared on The Titan Games season 2 in 2020 as a professional Titan. In 2020 she began stem cell treatment for injured shoulders and neck; ANW season 12 filming was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competitions

2003 NCAA Championships indoor pole vault: 16th place – 12 ft (Georgia Tech). 2004 Big 12 Championships outdoor pole vault: 2nd place – 13 ft (UNL). 2004 NCAA Championships outdoor pole vault: 24th place – 12 ft (UNL).

2004 Big 12 Championships indoor pole vault: 4th place – 13 ft (UNL). 2004 NCAA Championships indoor pole vault: 11th place – 12 ft (UNL). 2008 Wipeout season 1. 2013 American Ninja Warrior season 5 – first woman to advance to a City Final. 2015 American Ninja Warrior season 7 – first woman to sit atop the leaderboard at a city finals; first woman to advance to the National Finals. 2016 Team Ninja Warrior season 1 – team captain of G-Force; only female captain.

2016 American Ninja Warrior season 8 – finished second at the City Finals; first woman to finish Stage 1 at the Las Vegas national finals. 2017 American Ninja Warrior USA vs. The World – first woman to compete in and finish Stage 2. 2017 SASUKE 34 – first woman worldwide to finish Stage 2 in SASUKE/Ninja Warrior.

2018 American Ninja Warrior season 10 – finished fifth in the city finals; unable to compete in the national finals. 2019 American Ninja Warrior season 11 – placed third in the city finals. 2019 SASUKE 37. 2020 The Titan Games season 2 – professional Titan, West Region. 2020 American Ninja Warrior season 12 – filming interrupted by COVID-19.

2022 American Ninja Warrior season 14. 2022 SASUKE 40. 2024 American Ninja Warrior season 16. 2024 SASUKE 42 – only female on Team USA.

Did You Know?

• She was the second woman ever to conquer Stage 1 of the Sasuke course, after Chie Tanabe in Sasuke 2.
• In Sasuke 37, she cleared First Stage with 31.5 seconds left, even though the timer showed zero seconds because production forgot to tune it correctly.