Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 18, 2025, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Award Winners) for Thursday, September 18, 2025 (Season 42, Game 9):
He became the first person to win both an Olympic medal & an Academy Award thanks to a short film he made about his sport
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Kelly Anneken, a content designer from Alameda, California
|
Greg Shipman, a geoscience cartographer from Houston, Texas
|
Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California (6-day total: $162,117)
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Paolo Pasco goes for victory #7 today on Jeopardy! after a closely fought victory yesterday in which he didn’t find a single Daily Double. His challengers today include Greg Shipman and a familiar name to Jeopardy! fans in Kelly Anneken; Kelly would be known to Jeopardy! fans as Amy Schneider’s ex-wife and podcast co-host.
In the aftermath of the extremely controversial firing of Jimmy Kimmel last night, this is also the first time where I actually fear that my predictions last November—that Jeopardy! might be immune from political interference due to the “bread and circuses” theory—might not be as correct as I initially thought. Remembering that Nexstar controls 37 affiliates that air the show (a number that would go over 50 if its merger with Tegna is approved) and the recent capitulation by the major broadcast networks at nearly every opportunity, I don’t think I have ever been as worried for my own job as I have been over the past month. (And to those of you who watch on an affiliate that’s part of the ABC network and are choosing to boycott that network: while this website is not intended to serve as a substitute for watching the show, there is a daily recap of each episode here at The Jeopardy! Fan.)
(Content continues below)
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2024? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
Do you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan? Would you like to make a one-time contribution to the site? You may do so here!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 17 players, now including Adriana Harmeyer, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: Who is Kobe Bryant?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2025 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Professional basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who won a pair of Olympic gold medals as a member of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic basketball teams, won his Oscar for the 2017 animated short film Dear Basketball.
Honestly, I think that this clue, as it’s been presented for Clue of the Day, is missing one more clue to be in the “sweet spot”; I think that if we’d been given a year/decade/even the 21st century, you’d eliminate a significant number of people guessing Johnny Weissmuller.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Today’s results will be posted once the show airs!
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
I guessed Weissmuller, as he’s the most logical Olympian to movies connection there is.
Not a fan of this clue, as when I think of Olympians, I think of people that got famous for their Olympic achievements, not pro athletes that were famous or later became famous in their professional sport.
I guessed Mark Spitz.
As a huge Lakers fan who has watched the short film several times, I knew Kobe fit most of the criteria, but you are 100% correct that this question is missing something. Even knowing Kobe had achieved this, it still seemed like a huge risk to assume that no one else had pulled it off in the near-century of Oscars before him.
Something as vague as a hint that it took a surprisingly long time for someone to accomplish this feat would have been enough. Alternatively, I know that a few years later, Shaq actually produced an Oscar-winning short film (directed by the son of first lawyer I worked under out of law school!), so perhaps they could have worked that dynamic into the clue somehow.
I believe this fact came up in one of my Guinness World Records books (either the 2018 or 2019 editions, as I don’t think his death in early 2020 was mentioned in the text describing the record), so this was fairly easy for me… but hey, I’m not complaining 🙂