Turns out Ken Jennings wasn’t the first “Jeopardy!” host to get a taste of Jamie Ding’s trivia skills.
During an episode that aired earlier this month, Ding, a Metro Detroit native and the reigning “Jeopardy!” champ, remarked that he briefly met longtime host Alex Trebek at an academic competition in Washington, D.C.
Now there’s photographic evidence of the chance encounter.
The image, shared by Wayne State University, shows Trebek at a lectern surrounded by youths in matching purple polo shirts. To Trebek’s left is a familiar-looking bespectacled boy standing behind a blue check.
Ding’s father, Wayne State University neurosurgery professor Yuchuan Ding, confirmed that the boy in the photo is Jamie, seen during the 2004 National Geographic Bee, in which Jamie participated as a seventh grader from Parcells Middle School in Grosse Pointe Woods.
Yuchuan said Jamie competed at the national level of the Geographic Bee twice, in 2004 and 2005, finishing 11th and seventh, respectively.
“In 2005, he advanced to the top 10 and competed in the National Geographic Bee National Final, which was broadcast on the National Geographic Channel,” Yuchuan said. “He was also interviewed by Alex Trebek during the program and ultimately placed in the top 7.”
‘Who’s this guy?’
In recounting the tale on TV, Ding told Jennings that, at that time, he was mostly familiar with Trebek though the longtime host’s appearance in a “Jeopardy!” video game. In the game, the virtual Trebek was sporting a mustache, which he wore on “Jeopardy!” throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
But by 2004, Trebek had switched to a clean-shaven look, which Ding hadn’t yet seen.
“I didn’t realize that he had shaved so when I met him at the geography bee and he came into the room, I was like, ‘Well, who’s this guy?'” Ding recalled. “But then the other geography bee contestants I guess were more up on their ‘Jeopardy!’ viewing. The way that they reacted let me realize, ‘OK, this is Alex Trebek.'”
After the photo of Ding and Trebek surfaced online, one eagle-eye internet user pointed out an interesting coincidence.
The checks presented during the Geographic Bee are dated May 26, 2004. Jennings’ incredible win streak began exactly one week later, June 2, 2004.
The prodigy son
Ding was already a trivia dynamo during his middle school years.
In 2005, he advanced to the national level of three separate major youth academic competitions: the Scripps National Spelling Bee, National Geographic Bee and MATHCOUNTS.
“During this period, our family had a very demanding schedule. My wife and I were both working full-time, and (Jamie’s younger sister) Jessie was only nine years old,” Yuchuan said in an email.
It was so demanding that the parents took turns making trips to the nation’s capital. Yuchuan went with Jamie to the Geographic Bee, then Jamie’s mother, Ning Yan, accompanied him at the Spelling Bee just one week later.
As of Monday, Jamie is on a 27-game win streak. Jennings is the show’s all-time winningest contestant with 74 consecutive victories.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Jamie Ding in photo with Alex Trebek in 2004
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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