Jessie Graff
Jessica Lauren Graff (born January 12, 1984) is an American professional stunt woman and athletics-based television personality. She is a black belt in Taekwondo, a black sash in Kung Fu, and is trained in five other styles of martial arts. She is also a championship pole vaulter and a compe*ive gymnast.
Graff has become well known for her athletic achievements on the obstacle course show American Ninja Warrior. In 2016, she became the first woman ever to complete Stage 1 of the Las Vegas Finals course. In 2017, Graff became the first woman to compete in, and to successfully finish, Stage 2 in Las Vegas, although this was part of the USA vs. The World compe*ion instead of a regular season, and that had no time requirement. She was the first woman representing the United States in that compe*ion. Later on in Sasuke 34, she became the first and so far the only woman (now also Stefanie Noppinger from Austria) worldwide to finish Stage 2 in the Sasuke/Ninja Warrior franchise, only defeated by Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger later in Stage 3. She was the second woman ever to conquer the Stage 1 of the Sasuke course (excluding Kunoichi), after Chie Tanabe in Sasuke 2.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Collegiate sports career
- 3 Stuntwoman career
- 4 Obstacle compe*or career
- 4.1 American Ninja Warrior
- 5 Compe*ions
- 6 Honors
- 7 Personal life
- 8 Sponsorship
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Early life
Jessie Graff was born to Ginny MacColl on January 12, 1984.
At age 6, Graff started taking circus cl*es. She started doing gymnastics at age 9 and did compe*ive gymnastics for 6 years. She was a member of the Frederick Gymnastic Club for 6 years. By age 12 she was catching other performers on the trapeze. She has stated about her time as a 12-year-old trapeze artist, "The rule was I wasn’t allowed to catch anyone who outweighed me by more than 20 pounds."
Graff was a pole vaulter in high school, and graduated in 2002 from Urbana High School, Frederick, Maryland, as a Track Team Leader, honor roll student, and member of the National Honor Society.
She majored in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech, and theatre at the University of Nebraska. She graduated from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in 2007.
She has earned black belts in Taekwondo and Kung Fu.
Collegiate sports career
Graff is 5:ft 8:in (1.73:m) tall. In 2004, she set her personal best (PB) in the 5000m run at 15:56.30; she set her outdoor pole vault PB at 4.17:m (13:ft 8:in); and indoor pole vault PB at 4.20:m (13:ft 9:in). Graff held the pole vault record at Georgia Tech and University of Nebraska.
Stuntwoman career
Graff started doing stunt work in 2007 and has appeared in several television shows and movies, including X-Men: First Cl*, Make It or Break It, Another Period, Bridesmaids, Knight and Day, Bad Teacher, John Carter, Leverage, and Sons of Anarchy.
As a stuntwoman, she has done tumbling on Make It or Break It, trampolined on Another Period and has done many stunts on rooftops, the sides of bridges or buildings and dramatic wipeouts. She has said she continues to learn new skills from other stunt people who specialize in different areas.
As of 2016, her most recent high-profile stunt work was for the CBS/CW series Supergirl.
In the first scene of the 2020 feature film Wonder Woman 1984, young Diana takes part in an Amazon athletic contest that resembles Ninja Warrior; Graff portrays a compe*or. She was also one of lead actress Gal Gadot’s stunt doubles.
Obstacle compe*or career
Graff was a contestant on the obstacle course show Wipeout's tenth episode of its first season in 2008. In that appearance, she fell in the penultimate round and thus did not make it to the Wipeout Zone.
In the summer of 2017 she competed in Sasuke 34, the original *anese version of ANW. She was the second woman in the show's history to clear Stage 1 (the first being another stuntwoman, Chie Nishimura of Super Sentai, 19 years beforehand at Sasuke 2.) She also became the first woman ever to clear Stage 2, but failed in Stage 3.
In 2020, Graff came on The *an Games season 2, as a professional *an. She had a possibility of not competing as she had started stem cell treatment of injured shoulders and neck.
American Ninja Warrior
On season 5 (2013) of American Ninja Warrior she became the first woman to qualify to compete in a City Finals course (although she did not complete the qualifier course). In season 6 (2014) of American Ninja Warrior she did not compete because she had a serious knee injury. In season 7 (2015), she appeared at Stage One in Las Vegas, but she did not make it up the Warped Wall.
In season 8, in the Los Angeles qualifying round, she became the first woman in American Ninja Warrior history to make it up the new 14 1/2-foot Warped Wall and moved on to the city finals along with professional rock climber Natalie Duran. This was the first time two women made it into the Top 30. In the Los Angeles city finals, Graff did not complete the course but finished second overall based on the show's "the farthest the fastest" metric. This broke her own record for the highest finish by a woman in a city compe*ion through 2016. At the season 8 national finals at Mt. Midoriyama, Graff became the first woman to ever complete Stage 1, finishing fourth overall. She was also the first woman to ever ascend the Warped Wall on Stage 1 in Las Vegas. A stop-motion LEGO video inspired by her performance was released soon after her win.
In 2017, she became the first woman to compete in, and to successfully finish, Stage 2 in Las Vegas, although this was part of the USA vs. The World compe*ion instead of a regular season, and had no time limit. She was the first woman representing the United States in that compe*ion. In the 2017 regular season, American Ninja Warrior season 9, she fell on the 5th obstacle in the Daytona city qualifier. During the city finals she got past it, then got past all of the back half obstacles until the 10th and final Elevator Climb, which she did not finish. Overall, she finished 4th out of all the athletes competing in this city finals. In the National Finals, she fell on the last obstacle of stage 1.
In 2018, for American Ninja Warrior season 10, she completed the Miami City qualifier course atop the Warped Wall, with a 10th place finish overall for the night. In the Miami city finals, she made it to the ninth obstacle, the Stair Hopper, before falling, but it was still far enough fast enough to give her a 5th place finish overall and another trip to Las Vegas. She was ultimately unable to compete at the Las Vegas National Finals due to filming commitments in the Canary Islands for stuntwork on her project, Wonder Woman 1984.
In 2019 Graff returned to Ninja compe*ion, appearing in American Ninja Warrior season 11, finishing 8th overall. In the city finals, she finished 3rd overall but made it farther into the 9th obstacle than any other compe*or. However in the Las Vegas finals, she fell early on Stage 1 when she failed to make the transition halfway through the Double Dipper obstacle (other ninjas had benefited from their experience the previous year with this difficult obstacle, whereas Graff had not that experience due to her Wonder Woman work).
Also in 2020, Graff competed in American Ninja Warrior season 12. She had expected to skip the season due to having stem cell treatment of an injury to her shoulders and neck, but decided to compete anyway after having participated in The *an Games without issue during treatment. She competed in the first filming, but that was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which further allowed her to rest and recover from her medical treatment.
In 2021, Graff had to sit out season 13 due to recovery from surgery after an injury suffered in season 12.
Compe*ions
- 2003 NCAA Championships indoor pole vault: 16th place – 12:feet 5.5:inches (3.797:m)
- 2004 Big 12 Championships outdoor pole vault: 2nd place – 13:feet 1.5:inches (4.001:m)
- 2004 NCAA Championships outdoor pole vault: 24th place – 12:feet 3.5:inches (3.747:m)
- 2004 Big 12 Championships indoor pole vault: 4th place – 13:feet 1.5:inches (4.001:m)
- 2004 NCAA Championships indoor pole vault: 11th place – 12:feet 11.5:inches (3.950:m)
- 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 – One of only two compe*ors to make it past "The Wedge" obstacle at the City Finals, leading to finishing second at the course and top woman; She became the first woman ever to finish the Stage 1 course at the Las Vegas national finals on ANW.
- 2017 American Ninja Warrior, "USA vs. The World" – First woman to compete in, and to successfully finish, Stage 2 in Las Vegas, although this was part of the "USA vs. The World" compe*ion instead of a regular season, and had no time requirement. She was also the first woman representing the United States in that compe*ion.
- 2017 Sasuke 34, No 87 – first and so far the only woman worldwide to finish Stage 2 in Sasuke/Ninja Warrior.
- 2018 American Ninja Warrior season 10 – Finished the Miami Qualifying Course, and was one of only five to make it past the “Crazy Clocks” obstacle in the city finals, finishing fifth overall in that round of compe*ion. She was ultimately unable to compete in the national finals.
- 2019 American Ninja Warrior season 11 – Finished the Seattle-Tacoma Qualifying Course. Made it to the ninth obstacle in the city finals, and placed third overall.
- 2020 The *an Games season 2 – professional *an, West Region.
- 2020 American Ninja Warrior season 12 – Started filming, which was then interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Honors
- Spring 2002 All-Meet pole vaulter
- 2005 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
- Fall 2003 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
- Spring 2004 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
- Fall 2004 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
- Spring 2005 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
- 2004 NCAA Division I Track Coaches *ociation All-Academic Team
Personal life
In 2020, she received stem cell treatment for her injured shoulders and neck. This had expected to interfere with American Ninja Warrior (season 12), and The *an Games season 2, though that eventuality did not come to p*. She did TG2 without issue, and entered ANW12 filming. ANW12 filming was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, giving her recovery time from her medical treatment.
Sponsorship
Jessie Graff is sponsored by Under Armour and has her own athletic apparel collection. Her motto with the company is "Unlike Any".
References
External links
- Official website
- Jessie Graff at IMDb