Minneapolis-based substitute teacher Sam Kavanaugh has now secured six victories on the nationally viewed trivia gameshow. 4:39 pm, Jun. 1, 2021 ×
Sam Kavanaugh has won the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, earning a total of $250,000. (Photo courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc.)
Carlton native Sam Kavanaugh claimed the ultimate Jeopardy! victory last week when he took home first place on the gameshow’s “Tournament of Champions.
Kavanaugh, 30, took home a grand total of $250,000 from the 10-day competition, with second-place winner Jennifer Quail winning $100,000 and third-place winner Veronica Vichit-Vadakan taking home $50,000.
“I’ve dreamed about this for so long,” Kavanaugh said on the show, which aired Friday, May 28. “This was such a distant, faint thing when I first tried out for Jeopardy! , and then it slowly grew in my mind.”
Alex Trebek, who died in November after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Jean Trebek, Alex s wife, reacted to the donation in his honor. The show s generosity continues to reflect Alex s desire to assist underrepresented communities, she said in a statement. She called the gift wonderful.
Since Trebek s death, Jeopardy! has been rotating interim guest hosts until Sony Pictures Television, which produces the show, finds a permanent host. Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host, executive producer Mike Richards recently said in a press release.