TV Here's who won The Challenge: USA season 2 — and who didn't finish the final The brutal two-day final crowned two new champions, while three competitors didn't make it to the finish line. By Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a writer at Entertainment Weekly covering all things pop culture – but TV is her one true love. She currently lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Chicago so please don't make fun of her accent when it slips out. EW's editorial guidelines Published on October 19, 2023 11:00PM EDT Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Challenge: USA season 2 finale. Survivor alums aren't just surviving on The Challenge: USA ... they're absolutely thriving. The first season of CBS' spinoff of MTV's long-running reality competition franchise ended with two Survivor alums, Danny McCray and Sarah Lacina, taking home the cash prize, and season 2 was no different as Desi Williams and Chris Underwood emerged victorious after a brutal two-day final. So how did Survivor players continue reigning supreme in this franchise? The final begins on 'The Challenge: USA' season 2. paramount+ The first day of the final featured four separate checkpoint events (including the classic gross eating challenge) that allowed competitors to gain time advantages for the second day. If they lost any event, they earned time penalties. They also could "double down" and gamble which event they thought they would win, giving them more of a head start for day two if they actually won that checkpoint. Challenge vet Cory Wharton lost every single event, while the others won and lost in equal measure. By the end of the four checkpoints, Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio was in the lead with a two-minute head start, Chris, Desi, Michaela Bradshaw, Tori Deal, and Faysal Shafaat each had a one-minute head start, Chanelle started in third with a one-minute time penalty, and Cory was in last place with a five-minute time penalty. Day two was a 10-mile run up a mountain with several "risk station" checkpoints along the way — if players completed the checkpoint, they earned an advantage for the next leg of the run. And at the second risk station, the last place man and woman were automatically eliminated. The first risk station was ax throwing where players had to land an ax on a target. Every player except Faysal and Tori hit a target, so they all took a shortcut on the running path while Faysal and Tori had to add 1.2 miles to their run. But Faysal went the wrong way and took the shortcut anyways, so when he arrived at the second risk station, he was forced to run all the way back to go the correct way. That's a rookie mistake that cost him the entire final. 'The Challenge: USA'. paramount+ At the second risk station, players had to eyeball a scale and pile enough rocks on one side that they thought would make it balance. If it was balanced, they got to drive an ATV for the next mile instead of running, which is a massive advantage. Desi and Michaela arrived at the same time when only one scale was available, so Desi immediately started working on it, forcing Michaela to wait. But Michaela decided to just move on without even attempting it and run the next mile rather than waiting for her to finish, which turned out to be her biggest mistake. Everyone else successfully balanced their scales except for Bananas, who royally screwed it up and had to run the next mile. As for Tori and Faysal, they were the last woman and man to make it to the scale risk station, so they were automatically disqualified from the final. At the third and final risk station at mile 7.8, players stacked cinder blocks with every cast member's name on them in the correct order that they were eliminated from this season. Everyone successfully completed it, and then it was a foot race uphill to the finish line. Ultimately Chris arrived first, winning for the men. Cory finished next, earning second place for the men. Desi arrived soon after, winning for the women. Then Bananas arrived, finishing in third place for the men. Chanelle finished in second place for the women. And after her run, Michaela couldn't make it to the finish line. She collapsed on the ground and medics come to help her out, getting medically disqualified right before the finish line. Come back to EW on Friday morning to check out our interview with winners Chris and Desi to find out what you didn't see in the final, as well as our interviews with all those players who disqualified. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: Josh Martinez says he's ready for a break from The Challenge Johnny Bananas unpacks that shocking betrayal on The Challenge: USA Cassidy Clark explains why she was seen as 'weak' on The Challenge: USA Wes Bergmann explains why he's retiring from The Challenge The Challenge showrunner addresses concerns over season 39's cast of no champions