After 23 straight wins on “Jeopardy!”, Mattea Roach finally met her match.
Roach’s historic winning streak came to an end on Friday to Danielle Maurer, a digital marketing manager from Peachtree Corners, Georgia.
Her 23 straight wins place her fifth in the show’s history, trailing only Ken Jennings, Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio and James Holzhauer. The 23-year-old Canadian won $560,983, which is also fifth best in total winnings in regular-season games on “Jeopardy!”
“It feels still kind of like a dream,” Roach said. “I really came down here hoping to maybe win one game and so I still can’t believe it. You know, it’s strange, obviously I didn’t come through in the last one, but I still feel so happy and so lucky to have had this experience.”
Roach led Maurer as they entered “Final Jeopardy!” on Friday, with the defending champion earning $19,200 in the first two rounds and Maurer sitting at $11,400. But it was the woman from Georgia who prevailed in the end to become the new champion.
The “Final Jeopardy!” clue was: “These 2 mayors give their names to a facility built on the site of an old racetrack owned by Coca-Cola magnate Asa Candler.”
The correct response given by Maurer was “Who is William Hartsfield & Maynard Jackson?” Maurer, who wagered $4,200, moved her total to $15,600.
That total ended up being just $1 more than Roach, whose incorrect answer and $3,601 wager dropped her total to $15,599.
Roach will return for the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions this fall, where she will go against the top competitors of the season, including Schneider and Amodio.
Despite her achievements on the show, Roach said she doesn’t feel like she deserves to be named in the same breath as those two, along with Jennings and Holzhauer.
“And there’s a noticeable financial gap between my money and theirs, but it’s an amazing accomplishment.,” Roach said. “Like, I can’t believe it. It’s such a huge honor that I am being spoken of in relation to people like Ken, James, Matt, Amy. It’s, wow. There’s no words.”
Consecutive Games Won
Ken Jennings in 2004: 74 games
Amy Schneider in 2022: 40 games
Matt Amodio in 2021: 38 games
James Holzhauer in 2019: 32 games
Mattea Roach in 2022: 23 games
Highest Winnings (Regular-Season Play)
Ken Jennings: $2,520,700
James Holzhauer: $2,462,216
Matt Amodio: $1,518,601
Amy Schneider: $1,382,800
Mattea Roach: $560,983
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