Who won ‘Jeopardy!’ tonight? Jamie Ding eyes 30th win as episode ends in a nail-biter
Jamie Ding is on a roll. On Thursday, April 23, the champion scored another victory, taking his winning streak on 'Jeopardy!' to 30. The 33-year-old scored his second-biggest payday since starting his journey six weeks ago on March 13. He came up slightly short of his total on the April 2 episode, $56,400. On Thursday, Ding was challenged by an attorney, Leighanna Mixter from California, and an actuary, Patrick Nolan from Wheaton, Illinois.
Nolan and Ding were in a close match-up during the episode, with Nolan giving the champion a tough competition. Ding was in the lead at the end of the first round. During the second round, Nolan inched closer and even surpassed him on clue nine, but Ding bounced back with a Daily Double wager on clue 13. After the Double Jeopardy round, Ding was in the lead at $30,800, with Nolan not far behind at $28,000, trailing the champ by just $2,800, while Mixter had $5,400. The Final Jeopardy category was 'The 1950s' and host Ken Jennings read out the clue, "The announcement declaring this safe & effective was made on April 12, 1955, the 10th anniversary of the death of a famous American." Ding bet $25,201, but Nolan wagered $10,000, while Mixter only put $5,000 on the line. Only Ding and Mixter answered correctly, "What is the polio vaccine?" Nolan answered incorrectly with "What is penicillin?" and was left with a final total of $18,000. He finished in second place, while Mixter finished last with $10,400.
Ding's total reached $56,001 by the end of the game, bringing his 30-day total to $849,603. After the latest episode, Ding held on to his fifth position on the all-time lists of total consecutive wins and money won in regular-season play. As he attempts to continue his winning streak during Friday's episode, Ding will need three more wins and an additional $533,197 to jump to fourth place in both categories. Ding's brilliant performance on the game show has also earned him a spot in the two-week postseason event, 'Tournament of Champions.'
A resident of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Ding is a public housing administrator for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. He is also pursuing his law degree from Seton Hall Law School and is enrolled in the Weekend J.D. program. Originally from Detroit, Ding graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School in 2009 and attended Princeton University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology in 2013. The latest episodes of 'Jeopardy!' are available for streaming the next day on Hulu and Peacock.
