This Jeopardy! super champion just made more history for the quiz show. Who is ... Amy Schneider?
Schneider, a writer from California, has won the 2022 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, securing a $250,000 prize. In doing so, she becomes the first openly transgender person to win the Tournament of Champions. She was also the first trans person to even qualify for the tournament.
Schneider was considered a front-runner heading into this year's Tournament of Champions, as she holds the record for second-longest winning streak in Jeopardy! history behind only Ken Jennings. She also became the first woman to win $1 million on the show. But her victory wasn't guaranteed, as the Tournament of Champions pitted her against an unusual number of all-time great Jeopardy! players, namely 38-game winner Matt Amodio and 23-game winner Mattea Roach.
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In a major twist, though, neither Amodio nor Roach made it to the finals, with both surprisingly being eliminated during their semifinal games. Instead, Schneider faced off in the finals against Sam Buttrey, winner of the Jeopardy! professors tournament, and five-time champion Andrew He. During his original Jeopardy! run, He was defeated by Schneider herself, meaning the tournament doubled as a rematch between the two.
The finals saw Schneider, He, and Buttrey compete to be the first to win three games, and each was a nail biter. Prior to Monday's match, Schneider and He each had two wins under their belt, while Buttrey had one. It was anyone's game going into Final Jeopardy!, and Schneider had a mere $1,400 lead over He. But she pulled out the victory with a correct response and $13,000 wager. By coming in second place, He won $100,000, while Buttrey won $50,000.
He gave Schneider a run for her money, but this giant just couldn't be caught — and Schneider's status as one of Jeopardy!'s greatest players of all time has been cemented once again.
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