Olympic champion Scott Hamilton responds to hilarious gaffe when Jeopardy contestant identifies him as Mary Lou Retton: ‘It was the hair, wasn’t it?’
A Jeopardy contestant was left red-faced after an embarrassing blunder in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
During Thursday’s episode, the ’40 Years Ago’ category featured a photo of a triumphant Scott Hamilton after winning his gold medal in men’s singles 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 responded rather uncertainly, “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before host 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 blunder in which she identified Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton as Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton
During Thursday’s episode, the ’40 Years Ago’ category featured a photo of a triumphant Scott Hamilton after winning his gold medal in men’s singles 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 responded rather uncertainly, “Who is Mary Lou Retton?” before host 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 joked about the mistake, with the caption in all caps: “THE VIDEO SCREENS ARE FAR AWAY, OK?”
Later in the episode, Bilodeau attempted to make amends with the figure skater with an on-air apology.
“Apologies to Scott Hamilton. I lost my glasses the day before I came here. My friend tried to get me to buy glasses here, so that was that,” she said.
She also took to Instagram and commented on the post saying, “I’m nearsighted! sorry again @scotthamilton84.”
Mary Lou Retton also ended up winning a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, although the 1984 Summer Olympics were in Los Angeles.
The gymnast took home the gold medal in the all-around competition, making her the first American woman to ever win gold in the all-around competition.
She also took home two silver medals and two bronze medals, and she was dubbed “America’s Sweetheart.”
Both Hamilton and Retton have faced health issues 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 with the figure skater with an on-air apology
“Apologies to Scott Hamilton. I lost my glasses the day before I came here. My friend tried to get me to buy glasses here, so that was that,” 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 from a rare form of pneumonia.
As for Bilodeau, she recovered from the unfortunate mistake just fine and won that episode.
She would also win Group 2 of the Jeopardy Champions’ Wildcard Tournament, securing her spot in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
The Tournament of Champions started on February 23 and Bilodeau was scheduled to play her next match on Wednesday, March 6.