‘Jeopardy!’: Did Harrison Whitaker Achieve Super-Champion Status?

Whitaker, from Terre Haute, Indiana, played against Michael Kavanagh, from Woodhaven, New York, and Shannon Lawinger, from West Newton, Massachusetts. Heading into the game, Whitaker had a nine-day total of $268,600, and was number 17 on the All-Time Winning Regular Play Only, according to The Jeopardy! Fan.

The reigning champion answered the first two clues correctly, which led him to find the Daily Double on clue three. With $1,800 in his bank, he made it a true Daily Double.

In “Mountains,” the clue read, “Jenny Lake near Jackson Hole is presided over by 3 peaks named South, Middle & Grand this.” With uncertainty, Whitaker, a researcher, answered, “What is Teton?” That was correct, and he doubled up to $3,600 while both of his opponents had $0.

Whitaker kept his lead, and by the end of the round, he had $11,200. Kavanagh, a school principal, had $3,800. Lawinger, a publishing editor, had $3,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Whitaker found the first Daily Double on clue two. He wagered $4,400 out of his $12,400. The clue in “Classic Literature Reimaginings” was: “With this novel as a starting point, ‘the madman’s daughter’ seeks the truth of her father’s experiments on animals.”

He hesitated before answering, “What is Frankenstein?” Whitaker was wrong and dropped down to $8,000. The correct response was The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Despite his opponents answering some clues correctly, Whitaker found the last DD of the game a few clues later. With $10,800, he wagered $2,800 in “World Languages.” The clue read, “Bosnia’s official languages are Bosnian, Serbian & this; it’s not Herzegovinian.”

Whitaker guessed, “What is Albanian?” He was wrong since the language is Croatian. Whitaker dropped down to $8,000 again, but he still maintained the lead.

By the end of the round, Whitaker had a huge lead of $22,000. Kavanagh had $8,600. Lawinger was in third place with $6,200.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Sports History.” The clue read, “He wasn’t yet a U.S. citizen when he was named an All-American & won 2 Olympic gold medals for the country.” Only one contestant got it right.

Lawinger answered, “What is :)?” Since she was wrong, she dropped to a total of $3,200, after wagering $3,000. Kavanagh had the correct response of “Who is Jim Thorpe?” and ended with $12,600 after wagering $4,000. Unless Whitaker got the answer wrong and made a huge wager, he was set to win. His response was “Who is Olajuwon?” He was wrong and wagered $1,000, giving him a total of $21,000.

That made him a 10-day champion with a total of $289, 600. Whitaker only needs $7,601 to move up a spot on the rankings and beat out Arthur Chu for number 16.

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• ‘Jeopardy!’: Did Harrison Whitaker Achieve Super-Champion Status?
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