Above are images from the Zach’s last final. Zach has had to live down his performance in that final over the last several years. In one moment, a dominant physical competitor was reduced to a crying child by the altitudes of Villarica, Chile. Zach’s performance in the Free Agents final was so poor, he finished two hours behind Johnny Bananas and Johnny Reilly, AND he almost lost the final for Laurel (who finished or tied for first in every other portion of the final for the girls).

Following Free Agents, Zach had a dysfunctional run in Battle of the Exes 2 which ended in a 6th place finish, and a quick out in Invasion of the Champions, in which he lost to a rejuvenated Darrell. These losses have stacked up and made many fans believe Zach is an overrated competitor. This season, Zach proved otherwise.

It may not have been the most dominating physical performance, but Zach consistently performed near the top of the competition, or, at the very worst average. He finished 2nd in the Gibraltar purge, completed the car hopping challenge despite shattering the glass of of his cars, and found himself in four Troikas (including three of the last four). Of all the guys, Zach played the best political game because he didn’t make any major moves to overtly back-stab anyone, and let Tony take the fall for the actions he followed.

Zach has proved his cardio is top-notch these days and he wants to win so badly. Remember, Zach won his last Challenge during Obama’s first term! He constantly refers to himself as one of the top athletes in Challenge history and if he can pull of a second win in an individual format, there’s a lot more validity to those claims. If he can’t, he will remain in the group of Champions who do not stack up to the elites.

Cara Maria Sorbello