'Jeopardy!' champion Amy Schneider's win streak ends at 40 games

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider was eliminated in Wednesday's episode, ending the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show's history.

Schneider, a 42-year-old engineering manager, won 40 games and amassed $1,382,800 in winnings coming into the most recent contest.

She was defeated by Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who outearned Schneider $29,600 to $19,600 in the episode.

Schneider entered Final Jeopardy with a narrow $27,600 to $17,600 lead when Talsma wagered $12,000 and correctly answered "Bangladesh" in response to the question which tasked players with producing the only nation that ends its English spelling with an "h" and is among the world's Top 10 most populous countries.

Schneider came up blank and lost $8,000.

In a statement released by the show, Schneider said she "had thought that Rhone was going to be tough" going into the competition.

"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," she said. "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."

Schneider's 40-win streak places her behind only Ken Jenning's 72-game run, after she surpassed Matt Amodio's record of 38 wins earlier this week.

She also became the first woman to win more than $1 million in Jeopardy! history with her winning total placing her fourth behind Jennings, James Holzhauer and Amodio.