Amy Schneider's historic Jeopardy! winning streak is over
After 40 consecutive wins, Amy Schneider's Jeopardy! run has come to an end.
During her time on the quiz show, Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, won roughly $1.4 million in prize money and became the second-longest running champ in Jeopardy! history. "It's still a little hard to believe," Schneider said about her streak. "It's something that I'm going to be remembered for, and that's pretty great."
Schneider was dethroned by Chicago librarian Rhone Talsma, who correctly answered the Final Jeopardy! question and finished the game with $29,600. "I'm still in shock," Talsma said in a statement. "I did not expect to be facing a 40-day champion and I was excited to maybe see someone else slay the giant. I just really didn't think it was going to be me, so I'm thrilled."
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Schneider set the record for Jeopardy!'s second-longest winning streak on Monday, when she won her 39th game. She's also the first woman to win more than $1 million on the show and the first transgender person to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. "The best outcome of all of this always is going to be whatever help I've been able to offer the trans community," Schneider told The New York Times. "I'm here because of the sacrifices countless trans people have made, often to the extent of risking their lives. To do my part to move that cause forward, it's really special."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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