A Jeopardy contestant was left red-faced after an embarrassing gaffe in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
Thursday's episode featured a photo of a triumphant Scott Hamilton in the “40 Years Ago” category after winning his gold medal in the men's singles event at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The “answer” was: “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 uncertain answer: “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before moderator Ken Jennings said it was Scott Hamilton.
The clip – which also featured Bilodeau laughing and saying “sorry” – was posted to Jeopardy's Instagram, with Hamilton himself replying: “It was the hair, wasn't it?”
A Jeopardy contestant was left red-faced after an embarrassing gaffe in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton
Thursday's episode featured a photo of a triumphant Scott Hamilton in the “40 Years Ago” category after winning his gold medal in the men's singles event at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The “answer” was: “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 uncertain answer: “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before moderator Ken Jennings said it was Scott Hamilton
The clip – which also featured Bilodeau laughing and saying “sorry” – was posted to Jeopardy's Instagram, with Hamilton himself replying: “It was the hair, wasn't it?”
Even the show poked fun at the mistake, writing in all caps in the caption of its post: “THE VIDEO SCREENS ARE FAR AWAY, OK?”
Later in the episode, Bilodeau attempted to make amends with the skater with an apology on television.
“Apologies to Scott Hamilton. The day before I came here I lost my glasses. “My friend tried to convince me to buy glasses here, that was it,” she said.
She also took to Instagram and commented on the post saying, “I'm nearsighted!” Sorry again @scotthamilton84.”
Mary Lou Retton also eventually won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, although it was the 1984 Summer Olympics that took place in Los Angeles.
The gymnast won the gold medal in the all-around, becoming the first American woman to ever win gold in the all-around.
She also took home two silver medals and two bronze medals and was dubbed “America's Sweetheart.”
Both Hamilton and Retton have struggled with health issues in recent years, with Hamilton deciding in 2017 not to seek treatment for his benign brain tumor.
Later in the episode, Bilodeau attempted to make amends with the skater with an apology on television
“Apologies to Scott Hamilton. The day before I came here I lost my glasses. “My friend tried to convince me to buy glasses here, that was it,” she said
She also took to Instagram and commented on the post saying, “I'm nearsighted!” 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, she recovered well from the unfortunate mistake and won this episode.
She also won Group 2 of the Jeopardy Champions Wild Card Tournament, earning her a spot in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
The Tournament of Champions began on February 23rd and Bilodeau will play her next game on Wednesday, March 6th.