'I don't feel any fear.' Gutsy Team Blue has a heartbreaking stumble on Canada's Ultimate Challenge
Eliminated from the game, the remaining three teams move forward to the semi-finals
Zalie Tshuma had been here before. In the serie's first round, she was the only player who successfully completed the suspension bridge challenge without falling.
This time, it was new Blue Team coach Waneek Horn-Miller who tapped her to complete a rappel obstacle course down the side of Quebec City's Le Chateau Frontenac.
"I have never rappelled before, but I don't feel any fear in this challenge. If you guys believe in me, I would love to take this challenge 100 per cent," she told her teammates.
At the bottom of the leaderboard, her team needed points to stay in the game, but she was against some stiff competition. Both Christian Oberigger (Team Orange) and Alana Warnick (Team Black) are professional firefighters, trained to do this sort of thing.
She hopped over the side of the building, 16 stories above the ground — and slipped.
"I don't care if I'm bleeding. I don't care if my leg is cut off … nothing can get in the way, we have to finish the challenge," Zalie told CBC Sports Reacts.
Watch the action.
"You just have to figure out how to make more time for this…you can make up this time somewhere," Zalie thought while hanging off the building.
She put the speed on — and then slipped again before reaching the ground.
"When I saw the time, I was crushed, because it was only a few seconds," says Zalie who gave it everything she had only to be behind the leader (at the time) by SIX seconds.
Zalie's Team Blue was everyone's favourite underdog ever since Mitchell Wendland had difficulty climbing a wall in the competition's very first challenge.
Sadly, the team's next challenge would seal their fate. "I feel like a stab in the heart. I really wanted this win for the team," says teammate Louis Ngo. After Mitchell successfully scaled the citadel wall, Louis discovered that he had inadvertently dropped a flag that he was supposed to carry to the top — leading to his team's elimination.
"I came into this experience as that same shy junior high schooler who was always told that I'm never gonna amount to anything and I'm leaving this challenge as Mitchell 2.0." said Mitchell after his moment of redemption.
Only three teams advance to the semi-finals. Who will emerge the winner? Watch Canada's Ultimate Challenge, now streaming free on CBC Gem.
