Amy Schneider’srecord-breakingtime onJeopardy!has come to an end.
After 40 consecutive games and winnings totaling $1,382,800, Schneider lost to Rhone Talsma during Wednesday’s episode of the game show. Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, finished in first place with a score of $29,600 and Schneider finished in second place with $19,600.
The final category of the night was “Countries of the World” and the clue read: “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it’s also one of the 10 most populous.”
Talsma responded correctly with “What is Bangladesh?” while Schneider did not provide an answer.
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“ThisJeopardy!run is most likely what I will be remembered for, and if so, I’d be quite content to have that as my legacy,” Schneider tells PEOPLE.
Amy Schneider.Casey Durkin/Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
In a statement about losing to Talsma, Schneider said, “I had thought that Rhone was going to be tough going into it. I loved hanging out with him, we had great conversation before the taping, but I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good. I still came very close to winning, but I did feel like maybe I was slipping a little bit. And once it was clear that he was fast on the buzzer, I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.”
TheJeopardy!standout, who will return for the Tournament of Champions this fall, added, “It’s really been an honor. To know that I’m one of the most successful people at a game I’ve loved since I was a kid and to know that I’m a part of its history now, I just don’t know how to process it.”
Meanwhile, in his own statement, Talsma said: “I’m still in shock. This is my favorite show… I was so excited to be here and I just wanted to do my best. 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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Casey Durkin/Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
Schneider holds the No. 2 spot on the all-time consecutive wins list behind Ken Jennings who has a total of 74 wins. Schneider is fourth on the all-time regular-season cash winnings list with $1,382,800. (Matt Amodiowon $1,518,601,James Holzhauerwon $2,462,216 and Jennings won $2,520,700.)
Schneider first broke history just five days into her run on the competition show when she becamethe first transgender contestantto qualify for theTournament of Champions, an annual competition that includes all the best contestants from the year prior.
“Once I got to episodes three and four, I knew the fifth one was in sight,” she toldABC7in December. “Once I got it, it was a great feeling, mostly because I was having fun and I didn’t want to stop. By qualifying for the fifth one, I knew I would come back.”
She added that it’s important to her to send “a positive message to the nerdy trans girl who wants to be on the show too.”
“I am from Ohio where the only trans people I thought of were drag queens or prostitutes,” she said. “Seeing other trans women in a good spotlight inspired me to not be afraid of trying to compete in the thing I have always loved.”
Amy Schneider.Courtesy Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
Schneider then became the beloved show’s highest-earning female contender on Dec. 24,beating Larissa Kelly’s previous record. The engineering manager alsobroke the record for most consecutive winsfor a female player.
Kelly congratulated her fellow champion on Twitter,writing, “Well, it was fun to hold a Jeopardy record for a few years…but it’s been even more fun to watch@Jeopardamyset new standards for excellence, on the show and off. Congratulations to Amy on becoming the woman with the highest overall earnings in the show’s history!”
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Schneider previously reflected on her success inaWinner’s CircleinterviewwithJeopardy!’s Jimmy McGuire in November, when she had reached a 10-game winning streak.
“It’s just so surprising,” she said at the time. “I’m not going to pretend I didn’t think I could do good, but this has just been so much better than I thought I would do that it’s really hard to say what it means yet.”
source: people.com
