Magdalen's Challenge Hat-trick
Magdalen College have won this year's University Challenge, making it the first institution to win the contest three times. The team defeated Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, by 190 points to 160 in the final of the BBC Two series.
While Oxford may have been pipped on the Thames, the televised victory salvaged some pride for Dark Blues everywhere. The team of Dave Cox, Matt Holdcroft and Josh Spero was led to victory by captain Freya McClements, only the second ever female captain to become champion the competition.
The route to triumph saw the group fend off Nottingham, Sussex, the Royal Northern College of Music and St Andrews, before reaching the final.
In the final show, Magdalen stormed ahead to 50 points, leaving Gonville and Caius on minus five, following a wrong answer. The Tabs slowly closed the gap until the teams were tied on 65, but Caius never managed to take the lead. With three and a half minutes remaining, Magdalen were leading by 165 to 130; managing to remain calm, despite Paxman's pressure, they maintained that lead to the end.
The teams faced questions on a diverse set of subjects, ranging from the crow family to cantons of Switzerland. Spero told The OxStu: "We didn't pay that much attention at the time to our opponents being from Cambridge - we just tried to win - but on reflection it makes the victory a lot sweeter."
22nd Apr 2004