Daily Times

A US woman on Wednesday slipped from her winning position on the iconic game show “Jeopardy!” where she had reached the second-highest spot in the program’s 58-year history.

Amy Schneider, who is transgender, in early January became the first woman to win a million dollars on the trivia show, during her 28th win.

The 42-year-old engineer from California left the game with 40 victories and $1.4 million. She was stumped Wednesday by a question asking what is the only country in the world whose name ends with the letter “h.” Fellow contestant Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, became the new champion by answering Bangladesh.

Detractors have challenged Schneider’s position as the first woman to reach “Jeopardy!”‘s million-dollar milestone because she is transgender.

In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Schneider said “the best part for me has been being on TV as my true self, expressing myself and representing the entire community of trans people.”

“And just kind of showing a different thing than maybe some people have seen of being just a smart, confident woman and just doing something super normal, like being on ‘Jeopardy!'” she added.

She attributed her success to being “curious” and “spending my life learning a lot of stuff.” In the end, Schneider did not surpass the record set by Ken Jennings, who racked up 74 “Jeopardy!” victories in 2004 and who is currently one of the show’s interim hosts.

The show, in which contestants answer general knowledge trivia by giving the relevant question to a corresponding answer, debuted on US television in 1964.

Beloved Canadian presenter Alex Trebek hosted the show for 36 years before his death from cancer in 2020.