1998 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions

Host

Alex Trebek

Contestants

see below

Announcer

Johnny Gilbert

Broadcast

February 2~13, 1998

Packager

Sony Pictures Television

The 1998 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions was the 13th edition of the Tournament of Champions in the Alex Trebek era of Jeopardy! This was the first Tournament of Champions to have two winners of the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament.

Contestants

Rank	Season	Name	Wins	TW	Results	WC
C	13	Craig Barker	A	$25,000
Te		Josh Den Hartog
		Sahir Islam			★
1	13/14	Dan Melia ($ S14)	5	$75,600	★
2	13	Arthur Phillips		$63,003
3	14	Catherine Ramen		$61,000	★
4		Bob Harris		$58,000	★
5	13	Grace Veach		$51,601	★
6		Paul Gutowski		$51,301
7		Kim Worth ($ S13)	4	$64,000	★
8		Wes Ulm		$63,201
9		Lyn Payne		$55,002	★
10		Claudia Perry		$45,303
11	14	Peter Scott		$44,803
12		Pam Mifflin	3	$42,300

Game Summary

Game	Air Date	Name	Score	Name	Score	Name	Score	Detail
QF #1	February 2, 1998	Kim Worth	$8,200	Catherine Ramen	$10,000	Lyn Payne	$15,001	#
QF #2	February 3, 1998	Paul Gutowski	$2	Claudia Perry	$7,500	Josh Den Hartog	$14	#
QF #3	February 4, 1998	Dan Melia	$8,100	Peter Scott	$10,599	Craig Barker	$2,300	#
QF #4	February 5, 1998	Arthur Phillips	$2,201	Pam Mifflin	$100	Sahir Islam	$7,787	#
QF #5	February 6, 1998	Wes Ulm	$600	Bob Harris	$3,200	Grace Veach	$10,500	#
SF #1	February 9, 1998	Catherine Ramen	$1,400	Dan Melia	$11,801	Claudia Perry	$9,000	#
SF #2	February 10, 1998	Lyn Payne	$10,000	Peter Scott	$901	Bob Harris	$20,001	#
SF #3	February 11, 1998	Grace Veach	$4,300	Kim Worth	$8,100	Sahir Islam	$1,156	#
Final	February 12, 1998	Bob Harris	$0	Dan Melia	$10,300	Kim Worth	$6,100	#
	February 13, 1998		$1		$10,000		$1,700	#
	Total		$1		$20,300		$7,800

Notes

Contest notes

• Eligibility lasted from December 2, 1996 to January 30, 1998.
• At the time, this ToC and the 1994 ToC had the longest cycle, lasting 425 days.
• This is the first ToC to be held in a different month (February) than its predecessor ToCs (November). As a result, 1997 is the first year to not have a ToC.
• Bob Willoughby was the alternate for this ToC.
• The second semifinal game marked the last game with the "Bonus" category.
• For this ToC only, the tournament logo was the contestant backdrop.
• Starting this season, the prize money for 3rd and 2nd place has risen to $10,000 and $15,000, respectively.
  • Players eliminated in the quarterfinals received $2,500, an increase from $1,000 from previous editions of the ToC.

Contestant notes

• Pam Mifflin is the first female 3-time champion to qualify for the ToC.
• Kim Worth is the first 4-time champion to become the biggest money winner of a season (in his case, S13).
• Among all the champions who remained champion over the summer hiatus, Dan Melia, who was the champion in-between seasons 13 and 14, is the only champion to win the ToC.
• Bob Harris and Claudia Perry returned in 2002 for the Million Dollar Masters at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Both reached the semifinals.
• Harris, Melia, Catherine Ramen, Craig Barker, Sahir Islam, Josh Den Hartog, Arthur Phillips, and Grace Veach returned for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. Melia and Veach reached the quarterfinals; Ramen, Phillips, and Harris reached the second round, while Barker, Islam, and Den Hartog were knocked out in the first round.
• Melia and Harris returned in 2014 for the Battle of the Decades. Neither advanced past the first round.

References

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Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions
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