Amy Schneider wins Tournament of Champions, adding to her Jeopardy accomplishments
Amy Schneider is the latest Jeopardy juggernaut to win the game show's prestigious Tournament of Champions.
"I feel amazing," Schneider said in a statement. "Earlier in the finals, I had this sudden moment of seeing myself and being like 'I'm on stage in the Tournament of Champions finals,' and that was crazy. And I won! It's a great feeling."
Schneider is no stranger to Jeopardy fans. Her 40-game winning streak from November of 2021 to January of this year is second only to the 74-game record of current host Ken Jennings. Her initial winnings, meanwhile, amounted to $1,382,800 — the fourth-highest total in regular season play.
Courtesy Jeopardy Productions, Inc. 'Jeopardy' champion Amy Schneider says she was robbed: 'Couldn't really sleep last night'
In the final round of the tournament, Schneider competed against Andrew He (whose five-game winning streak she originally broke with her first win back in November 2021) and Sam Buttrey. Impressively, Schenider managed to cinch the win despite earning no Daily Doubles in the final game. He won all three but still trailed going into Final Jeopardy, where Schneider is often strong.
The Final Jeopardy clue was, "The Jan. 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported on a performance of this 'dashing comedy' to 'a full and delighted house.'" The correct answer was Our American Cousin. Both He and Schneider guessed correctly, but He wagered $2,801 while Schneider wagered $13,000, securing her the win with a final score of $28,600.
"I both wanted to [compete against him] and was afraid of facing him again," Schneider said of her rematch with He. "I knew he was one of the top competitors in the field. He was definitely someone that I knew could beat me because he very nearly did before, and he did a couple of times here as well. Any of the three of us really could have won if a very small number of things had gone differently. I'm glad we got a really fair chance to test our skills against each other, and I'd love to play him again someday, somehow."
Schneider is the first openly transgender contestant to play in and win the Tournament of Champions.
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