Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions: And the Big Winner Is...
The following story contains a massive spoiler from Monday’s Jeopardy! — proceed at your own peril
Jeopardy!‘s annual Tournament of Champions concluded Monday in dramatic fashion, with Amy Schneider
prevailing over Andrew He in the sixth game of competition.
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Schneider was the first to win three games against He, who prevailed in two finals games. Sam Buttrey, meanwhile, won one game in the best-of-seven series. With Schneider’s win, she walks off with the $250,000 grand prize, vs. He and Buttrey’s respective second and third place place hauls of $100,000 and $50,000.
“I feel amazing,” Schneider declared after her victory. “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.”
The Final Jeopardy! clue on Monday’s show was as follows:
Category: PLAYS
Clue: The Jan. 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported on a performance of this ‘dashing comedy’ to ‘a full and delighted house.’
Correct response: What is Our American Cousin?
Buttrey wagered everything and did not provide the correct response, while both Schneider and He responded correctly. He’s wager was $2,801, finishing with $17,001; Schneider wagered $13,000 for a final score of $28,600 to win the game and the tournament.
The Tournament of Champions finals represented a rematch between Schneider and He. In the duo’s first run-in in Season 38, Schneider ended He’s five-game streak and kicked off her historic 40-game run, which catapulted her to the No. 2 all-time spot behind only host Ken Jennings.
“I both wanted to [compete against him] and was afraid of facing him again,” Schneider said of 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.”
Schneider made Jeopardy! history as the first openly transgender contestant to compete in — and now win — the TOCs.
“I’m going to keep going out there and being me,” she said. “Being in places where people like me haven’t been before, it’s a very powerful thing to do.”
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