It was back in April 2004 when a question on horseracing propelled Galway man Pat Gibson into the spotlight.
But it was his appearance on the UK version of 'Millionaire' that solidified his place in game show history. Tuesday July 19 marked Pat's birthday, as he turns 61 nearly two decades after his incredible game show milestone.The question put to Galway man Pat by host Chris Tarrant was: "Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?"B. "Belmont Stakes" and D. "Preakness Stakes" disappeared.
He became the fourth contestant in the United Kingdom to win £1,000,000. As of December 2018, he is the No. 1 ranked quizzer in the world. Pat said: “This left me in a sort of limbo, not knowing my fate, with a tense crowd watching me, a solitary figure, with a slightly uncertain immediate future, perched centre-stage on a very high stool.Pat has gone on to serve as a Phone-a-Friend for Des O’Connor and Lee Mack and helped them reach £75,000.
In 2010 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship achieving an all-time high score of 180/210, defeating both Kevin Ashman and Belgian Ronny Swiggers who tied at 169/210. Gibson retained the World Quizzing Championship title in 2011 with a score of 186/210, a 10-point margin over Kevin Ashman, and won again in 2013 with a score of 172/210.Before stunning audiences on Millionaire , he appeared on Fastest Finger First on 28 February 2004, but didn’t get into the Hot Seat.