An unusually tough £500,000 question on the ITV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? has left viewers baffled, including host Jeremy Clarkson and a sports journalist who admitted he was 'clueless'. The question asked contestants to identify which sporting object has been recorded travelling at over 260 miles per hour during a competitive match.
The multiple-choice options were: a tennis ball, an ice hockey puck, a badminton shuttlecock, or a table tennis ball. David Stewart, a sports betting content producer, posted a photo of the question on social media, saying he would have incorrectly chosen the ice hockey puck and been 'shown to be clueless'. Clarkson replied, 'Me too.'
According to the Guinness World Records, the fastest hit in badminton by a male is 351mph, achieved by India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in 2023. Shuttlecocks easily exceed 250mph during professional matches and are officially the fastest-moving objects in any sport. The in-game competition record stands at approximately 265mph, matching the question's specification.
Social media reactions were mixed. One commenter wrote: 'Wouldn't have guessed shuttlecock in four tries.' Another noted: 'If a puck was travelling at that speed and hit someone, it would kill them, that's how you know it's not that. Shuttlecock was an easy answer.'
The question highlights the increasing difficulty of the show's later rounds, which require broad general knowledge across history, geography, and sport.
