A Jeopardy contestant was left blushing after an embarrassing mistake in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
During Thursday’s episode, in the ’40 Years Ago’ category, a photo was shown of a triumphant Scott Hamilton after winning his gold medal in the men’s singles competition during the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The “answer” read: “At the Winter Olympics, this American won gold with a four-and-a-half-minute program that included multiple triple jumps.”
Contestant Deb Bilodeau gave a rather unsure answer: “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before host Ken Jennings said he was Scott Hamilton.
The clip, which also showed Bilodeau laughing and saying, “I’m sorry,” was posted on Jeopardy’s Instagram, and Hamilton himself responded, “It was the hair, right?”
A Jeopardy contestant was left blushing after an embarrassing mistake in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
During Thursday’s episode, in the ’40 Years Ago’ category, a photo was shown of a triumphant Scott Hamilton after winning his gold medal in the men’s singles competition during the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The “answer” read: “At the Winter Olympics, this American won gold with a four-and-a-half-minute program that included multiple triple jumps.”
Contestant Deb Bilodeau gave a rather unsure answer: “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before host Ken Jennings said he was Scott Hamilton
The clip, which also showed Bilodeau laughing and saying, “I’m sorry,” was posted to Jeopardy’s Instagram, and Hamilton himself responded, “It was the hair, right?”
Even the show poked fun at the mistake, with the title of its post reading in all caps: ‘THE VIDEO SCREENS ARE TOO FAR, OK?’
Later in the episode, Bilodeau attempted to make amends to the figure skater with an on-air apology.
‘Apologies to Scott Hamilton. I lost my glasses the day before I came here. “My boyfriend was trying to get me to buy glasses here, so that’s it,” he said.
She also took to Instagram and commented on the post saying, ‘I’m shortsighted! Sorry again @scotthamilton84.’
Mary Lou Retton also ended up winning a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, although it was the 1984 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles.
The gymnast took home the gold medal in the all-around competition, making her the first American woman to win gold in the all-around competition.
She also took home two silver and two bronze medals, and was nicknamed “America’s Sweetheart.”
Both Hamilton and Retton have faced health problems in recent years, with Hamilton deciding not to seek treatment for his benign brain tumor in 2017.
Later in the episode, Bilodeau attempted to make amends to the figure skater with an on-air apology.
‘Apologies to Scott Hamilton. I lost my glasses the day before I came here. “My boyfriend was trying to get me to buy glasses here, so that’s it,” he said.
She also took to Instagram and commented on the post saying, ‘I’m shortsighted! Sorry again @scotthamilton84’
Retton also made headlines last fall when she was hospitalized and nearly died after suffering from a rare form of pneumonia.
As for Bilodeau, he recovered perfectly from the unfortunate mistake and won that episode.
He would also win Group 2 of the Jeopardy Champions Wildcard Tournament, securing his spot in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
The Tournament of Champions began on February 23 and Bilodeau will play its next match on Wednesday, March 6.
