Jesse Labreck

**Jesse "Flex" Labreck** is a gym operator from Naperville, Illinois. Labreck currently lives with fellow ANW veteran Chris DiGangi and they are currently engaged. She served as a former caregiver who helped take care of Emeline Sterpe, a young girl who has cerebral palsy. She is considered to be one of the strongest female competitors ever.

## American Ninja Warrior 8

Labreck competed first in American Ninja Warrior 8. In the Philadelphia qualifier she made it to Rolling Thunder until she lost her grip. She still made it to the city finals by placing 28th. With three other women making the top 30 as well, she took part in ANW history as part of the Fantastic Four.

In the finals, she managed beat the Rolling Thunder and became just the fifth woman ever to scale the Warped Wall. She made it all the way to Stair Hopper before falling. She became the fourth woman in ANW history to qualify for Vegas placing 10th, the third in American Ninja Warrior 8. and the first to qualify as a rookie. In the Las Vegas Finals, she managed to keep a slow but steady pace until the Jumping Spider, where she ultimately failed due to her legs not getting deep enough in between the walls.

## American Ninja Warrior 9

Labreck returned to compete in Cleveland in American Ninja Warrior 9 where she became just the sixth woman ever to complete a qualifying course, placing 12th overall and moved on to the city finals.

In the city finals, she was one of many to fail the Nail Clipper. However, her time to the obstacle actually landed her a spot in the top 15, just placing 15th overall. She became one of only two females in ANW 9 to land in the top 15 during a city finals course, with the other being Jessie Graff.

On Stage 1, Labreck cleared the first four obstacles with ease, But she got hung up on the rope on Parkour Run wasting energy and time, and ultimately she crashed into the water on the Flying Squirrel after failing the transition to the cargo net.

## American Ninja Warrior 10

In American Ninja Warrior 10, Labreck competed in Indianapolis this time, considering she now lives in Naperville, Illinois. She moved through the course with ease and became the first woman that night to complete the Spin Hopper, as well as the first woman that season to attempt the 18-foot Mega Wall. Although she came up short on the Mega Wall, she easily scaled the regular wall and hit her second consecutive qualifying buzzer, and became just the second woman that season to complete the qualifying course. Labreck placed 10th overall at the end of the night.

In the city finals, she made history as the first woman to get past the Clacker, she fell on Cane Lane but placed 12th overall and moved on to the national finals again.

On Stage 1, Jesse smashed her face on the dismount from Jeep Run, missed her first attempt on the Warped Wall, and crashed into the water on Twist and Fly after failing the transition to the second set of handles. Since no female completed stage 1, she went the farthest out of all females this season.

## American Ninja Warrior 11

Jesse returned in Cincinnati for American Ninja Warrior 11. In qualifying, she bested her fiance, Chris DiGangi, who failed Slingshot, as she finished the course placing 6th, as well as tying Meagan Martin's record of three consecutive qualifying buzzers. In the city finals, although she did get hung up on both the Ring Swing and Spinball Wizard, Jesse did make history as the third woman ever to complete a city finals course. Just like in Qualifying, she placed 6th again, qualifying for Vegas. In the national finals, Jesse got hung up on Spin Your Wheels wasting energy and time, and for the third year in a row, she crashed into the water on the final obstacle once again failing the transition to the cargo net. Since no female competitors completed stage 1, she once again went the farthest out of all the females this season.

## American Ninja Warrior 12

Jesse returned for her fifth season in American Ninja Warrior 12, and as a team captain she brought along Brittany Holterman as well as her fiance Chris DiGangi to compete. In qualifying, Jesse looked as strong as ever and had no problems with the course. She became the first woman to catch the big ring on Ring Chaser, breezed through the Ferris Wheel, and cleared the course, making it her fourth consecutive qualifying buzzer beating Meagan Martin's record of three consecutive qualifying buzzers and setting the record for women with five total buzzers (later tied by Jessie Graff). Labreck placed 11th, securing her spot in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Jesse continued to dominate. Although she had a slight struggle on Clockwork, she ended up making it to the back half of the course and becoming the first woman to complete Corkscrew, before falling on The Dungeon, continuing her streak of having the same course results as her fiance Chris. Although Jesse just missed out on the top 12 placing 13th, she placed 1st for the women to advance to the finals. However, this was the first time Jesse failed to qualify for the finals among the men.

In the finals, she broke her streak of having the same result as Chris by completing the Falling Shelves. Although she went at a relatively slow and controlled pace, she progressed far through the course. Labreck came very close to falling on Dragonback, as she had to regrip the bar multiple times and she almost fell on the dismount, taking a hard impact. However, she managed to complete the obstacle and scale the Spider Trap to finish course and get her 6th buzzer as well as her 2nd extended course buzzer, setting two new records for women. Across both finals nights, she placed 7th, high enough to move onto the power tower playoffs, making her the first woman to compete on the Power Tower in the American competition.

As No. 7 seed, she faced No. 2 seed, Daniel Gil, in the first round of the power tower playoff. Labreck struggled with the stairs at the start of the tower and lost to Gil by a relatively significant margin. However, she was able to complete the tower and hit the buzzer at the end. This was also Jesse's third year in a row going farther than any woman in the competition.

## American Ninja Warrior 13

Jesse returned for her sixth season in the last qualifying episode. Since her fiancée, Chris DiGangi, surprisingly failed Block Run at Split Decision, Jesse took the other route--Log Runner--and successfully cleared it. She went on to hit her fifth straight qualifying buzzer, as well as her seventh overall buzzer, placing 17th overall and moving on to the semifinals.

Jesse returned to compete in the last semifinals episode, being shown as the last runner in that episode. As always, she put up a strong run and finished the course in 12th place, hitting her third extended course buzzer, as well as her eighth overall buzzer.

On Stage One, Jesse was the last runner once again. For the first time, she got the cargo net on Stage One, and finished with 20.02 seconds left on the clock, hitting her ninth buzzer. (She is also the first woman and thus far only woman in American Ninja Warrior history to have a perfect season going into Stage Two and also the first and only woman to hit a city finals buzzer and also a Stage One buzzer.)

In her first run on Stage Two, Jesse shockingly failed the Double Salmon Ladder, ending her best season to date. She was the last female competitor standing for the fourth year in a row, and became the first woman to hit 3 buzzers in one season.

## American Ninja Warrior 14

Jesse returned in the third qualifying episode, being shown as the last runner that episode. She was hoping to hit her tenth buzzer, however her fiancée, Chris DiGangi had put some pressure on Jesse when he hit his tenth buzzer. Jesse nearly failed the fifth obstacle, Salmon Roll after landing on the edge of the platform. But Jesse recovered and hit her tenth buzzer, placing 14th overall.

Jesse returned in the third semifinals episode, as the last women runner that episode. She was hoping to earn her eleventh buzzer, however, in what was perhaps the biggest shock of the season, she went out on only the third obstacle, Clockwork, despite beating it two years prior. She struggled to generate swing and attempted the transition to the second bar too early and failed. This marked her first time failing on the front half of the extended course, and subsequently the first time that she did not advance to the national finals. This also meant that she wouldn't be the last female competitor standing for the first time since season 9. Also, this was the first time she didn't reach the Warped Wall on a qualifying, semifinals, or Stage 1 course since her Stage 1 run in Season 8.