GREENWICH, CT — Former Greenwich resident Mark Fitzpatrick nearly made it to the championship round of the "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions Wednesday night, but he came up just short in Final Jeopardy.
Fitzpatrick, who used to live in Riverside but is now based in Mexico City, Mexico, is a five-time "Jeopardy!" champion and amassed over $100,000 in winnings on his way to qualifying for the show's Tournament of Champions.
In the semifinal episode that aired Wednesday night, Fitzpatrick went into the Final Jeopardy round leading with $18,400. Fellow contestants Isaac Hirsch, from California, and Amy Hummel, of Wisconsin, trailed with $13,600 and $5,600 respectively.
The final category was "Scientists' Names," and the clue was, "The first man to observe bacteria & protozoa had a name containing the Dutch word for this much bigger creature."
Hirsch was the only contestant to come up with the correct response: "What is a lion?"
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His $4,000 wager put him on top with $17,600, while Fitzpatrick dropped to $9,599. Hummel wagered everything but $1.
The scientist's name was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, host Ken Jennings said, and Leeuwenhoek translates to "lions corner."
In a video interview posted to the "Jeopardy!" YouTube page three months ago after he qualified, Fitzpatrick was asked if he ever imagined finding himself in the Tournament of Champions.
According to the "Jeopardy!" website, all four-time and over winning players starting from Dec. 9, 2024, are eligible for the Tournament of Champions, which features a $250,000 prize for the winner.
"I watched it, I never thought I could get on it. I thought I could win a game; that was the goal. Then I just kept going," Fitzpatrick said of his run of five victories. "It's nothing like playing on your couch. I knew that would be the case, but just how fast it feels and moves - you make all these plans for how you would play but you don't really have time to think about it."
Fitzpatrick is currently a personal finance expert with MoneyGeek, a company that provides advice and tools to help people with their finances.
According to his bio, Fitzpatrick holds a master’s degree in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College.
CT Insider previously reported that Fitzpatrick moved to Greenwich with family at the age of 8 from the United Kingdom, and he attended Eastern Middle School and Greenwich High School.