SASUKE 8

Intro
The 8th Competition, official name: SASUKE2001秋 (literally SASUKE 2001 Fall) was arguably one of the best and emotional tournaments to not have a winner. It is the fourth tournament after Akiyama Kazuhiko's kanzenseiha. For the whole tournament, a typhoon showered Midoriyama in rains, causing several long rain delays. The rains also caused the course to be very slick, affecting the performance of competitors.

This tournament introduced a new first obstacle, the Godantobi (which would later become the basis for many other obstacles throughout SASUKE). The new obstacle was made more difficult by the pouring rain and eliminated over 50 competitors. Also, the rains made the Soritatsu Kabe very slick causing several time outs, most notably Shane Kosugi and Yamada Katsumi. Newcomer Jordan Jovtchev, an Olympic gymnast from Bulgaria, took three attempts to clear the Soritatsu Kabe and thus had less than ten seconds when he made it to the Rope Climb. He was able to fly up the Rope Climb and then clear at the very last moment, with 0.00 seconds left on the clock, the closest finish in any stage in SASUKE history. Before this tournament, Yamada declared that he would retire if he could not clear the First Stage. He timed out on the Soritatsu Kabe, however. Afterwards, however, he resumed and was able to scale the Soritatsu Kabe in one shot and completed the remainder of the stage. It was a very emotional moment as many people thought this would be Yamada's last tournament. Despite the rain squall, six competitors were able to clear the First Stage.

In the Second Stage, the time limit was raised to 100 seconds, the highest Second Stage time limit in history at the time (until SASUKE 28's Second Stage at 135 seconds). Due to the rains, the electric Gyakusō Conveyor had to be halted to prevent shocking the competitors who crossed it, making the obstacle far easier. Starting in this tournament, a button was added at the finish line, and competitors were required to press it in time in order to stop the clock, open the gate, and advance to the Third Stage. The field was narrowed down from six to four.

In the Third Stage, the results were vastly better than previous tournaments. 3 out of 4 competitors made it to the Pipe Slider, with two of them clearing it. Jovtchev became the first of two rookies since SASUKE 4 (the other one being Rene Kaselowsky) to advance to the Final Stage. American Kane Kosugi also cleared, marking the first time that foreign competitors made it to the Final Stage, a feat that has only been replicated by Taiwanese rock climber Lee En-Chih in SASUKE 24 and German circus artist Rene Kaselowsky in SASUKE 37.

In the Final Stage, the rain significantly affected the performance of the competitors. Jovtchev did not scale the Spider Climb fast enough and the walls spread apart before he could reach the Tsuna Nobori. It has been noted that he started the stage a couple of seconds too late, and the spider walls were very slick. Kosugi fractionally cleared the Spider Climb and made it about halfway up the rope before timing out. As the rain poured, Kane cried at the bottom of the tower. This was Kane Kosugi's final SASUKE tournament.

Obstacles
① ^Godantobi 五段跳び

② Rolling Maruta ローリング丸太

③ ^Ōdama 大玉

④ Jump Hang ジャンプハング

⑤ Soritatsu Kabe そり立つ壁

⑥ Tarzan Rope ターザンロープ

⑦ Rope Climb ロープクライム

Time Limit: 77 seconds

^ Denotes New Obstacle

Obstacles
① Chain Reaction チェーンリアクション

↓ Brick Climb ブリッククライム

② Spider Walk スパイダーウォーク

③ Goren Hammer

④ Gyakusō Conveyor (Stopped) 逆走コンベアー (停止)

⑤ Wall Lifting ウォールリフティング

Time Limit: 100 seconds

Obstacles
① Propeller Untei プロペラうんてい

② Body Prop ボディプロップ

③ Arm Bike アームバイク

④ Cliffhanger クリフハンガー

⑤ Pipe Slider パイプスライダー

Obstacles
① Spider Climb スパイダークライム (12.5m)

② Tsuna Nobori 綱登り (10m)

Time Limit: 30 seconds