Julia Collins (born November 10, 1982) is an American game show contestant and a supply chain professional from Wilmette, Illinois. She is best known for being a 20-time champion on the quiz show Jeopardy!. During her run from April 21 to June 2, 2014, she won $429,100.
Jeopardy! Run[]
Regular Play[]
- She began her original run on April 21, 2014. She won $428,100 over 20 consecutive victories from between April 21 and May 30.
- On June 2, her run came to an end as she was defeated by challenger Brian Loughnane. She finished the game in third place after wagering her entire daily total in Final Jeopardy! and failing to provide a correct response. Her third-place consolation prize of $1,000 was added to her winnings to give her a total of $429,100 – at the time, this was the third highest total earnings in Jeopardy! regular play history, only trailing Ken Jennings and David Madden. She trailed only Jennings (74) in number of games won and finished just ahead of Madden (19).
- She would later be surpassed in both categories by James Holzhauer, who won 32 consecutive games in 2019, and she would also be surpassed by Jason Zuffranieri in the cash category the same year, giving her the third longest winning streak and fifth highest total earnings in Jeopardy! regular play history. She is currently second-longest female winning streak (20) then Amy Schneider as of December 28, 2021 (Schneider surpassed Collins' total money winnings of $428,100 on her 12th game, with a total of $483,000).
| Game No. | Air Date | Final score | Cumulative Winnings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 21, 2014 | $15,605 | $15,605 | First regular-season play game in which Collins did not find any of the Daily Doubles. The defending 2-time champion, Frédérique Delaprée, had previously defeated 6-time champion Sandie Baker. |
| 2 | April 22, 2014 | $21,000 | $36,605 | Julia's first runaway game. |
| 3 | April 23, 2014 | $16,500 | $53,105 | |
| 4 | April 24, 2014 | $20,005 | $73,110 | Julia's second runaway game. |
| 5 | April 25, 2014 | $29,700 | $102,810 | Second and final regular-season play game in which Collins did not find any of the Daily Doubles. |
| 6 | April 28, 2014 | $22,000 | $124,810 | |
| 7 | April 29, 2014 | $20,100 | $144,910 | Julia's third runaway game. |
| 8 | April 30, 2014 | $25,700 | $170,610 | Julia's fourth runaway game. |
| 9 | May 1, 2014 | $28,100 | $198,710 | |
| 10 | May 2, 2014 | $21,900 | $220,610 | Julia's fifth runaway game and is the first-ever female 10+ times champ and all-time 4th 10+ times champ. After this game, Julia took a 2-week break due to the Battle of the Decades tournament. |
| 11 | May 19, 2014 | $10,700 | $231,310 | |
| 12 | May 20, 2014 | $14,300 | $245,610 | |
| 13 | May 21, 2014 | $15,800 | $261,410 | Julia's sixth runaway game. |
| 14 | May 22, 2014 | $22,690 | $284,100 | Julia's seventh runaway game. |
| 15 | May 23, 2014 | $30,800 | $314,900 | Julia's eighth runaway game. |
| 16 | May 26, 2014 | $22,800 | $337,700 | Julia's ninth runaway game. |
| 17 | May 27, 2014 | $35,000 | $372,700 | Julia's tenth runaway game. |
| 18 | May 28, 2014 | $18,900 | $391,600 | Julia's eleventh runaway game. |
| 19 | May 29, 2014 | $18,400 | $410,000 | Julia's twelfth runaway game and ties with David Madden for second-longest winning streak. |
| 20 | May 30, 2014 | $18,100 | $428,100 | She becomes female longest winning streak and second-longest winning streak. |
| 21 | June 2, 2014 | $0 | $429,100 | Lost to Brian Loughnane. |
Tournament of Champions[]
In the third quarterfinal game, she faced off against Joshua Brakhage and Jim Coury. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 21/23 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). She was the only player who got Final incorrect, but after losing to Joshua (in a come from behind win), she received a wildcard with her $9,100, while Jim's $5,600 was not enough, taking home $5,000.
In the first semifinal game, she faced off against Terry O'Shea and Jared Hall. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 17/19 correct responses. She was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the finals. Terry and Jared received $10,000.
In the finals, she faced off against Ben Ingram and Arthur Chu. Throughout the finals, she came up with a combined 26/30 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). She and Arthur got 0/2 Final correct, but after losing to Ben, she received $50,000 for second runner-up.
All-Star Games[]
She played in Team Julia with Ben Ingram and Seth Wilson. In match two, they faced off against Team Ken and Team Austin. Throughout the match, they came up with 26/27 correct responses. They and Team Austin got 1/2 Final Jeopardy correct, but after losing to Team Ken, they received $50,000 as their $15,600 was not enough, while Team Austin advanced to the wildcard match with their $21,600.
Common with Other Champions[]
Arthur Chu[]
- Both games were delayed by 1-3 weeks due to the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades.
- It is the last Superchampion by gender before the co-championship system is gone, and Julia is the last overall with five or more wins in a row.
- Both exited the last round with $0, giving their seats to contestants of the opposite gender. The difference was that Arthur was in third before the last FJ and Julia was in second before the last FJ.
- For the first time in their gender, they were from Superchampion and advanced to the ToC finals.
Seth Wilson[]
- Both of them lost in the ToC qualifiers. The difference is that Seth was eliminated without even receiving a WC, while Julia won the semifinals and placed third.
- They participated in the All-Star Games as a team with same participant Ben Ingram.
- Both handed their championship over to the opposite sex. In addition, when they left, both giant killers had a single win.
Austin Rogers[]
- Both of them are at the top seed in their respective ToCs. The difference in prize money between the two is $17,100.
- They lost in the ToC qualifiers and got to the top two wildcards at the end of Thursday’s game, in which the difference is that Rogers got the FJ right while Collins got her FJ wrong in the qualifiers stage, and both got 2nd runner-up. In addition, the first letter of the runner-up winner's name is A and B, respectively.
- Both handed their championship over to the opposite sex. In addition, when they left, both giant killers had a single win.
James Holzhauer[]
- Both had their first win against a champion who had beaten a champion with five or more wins in a row (6-time champion Sandie Baker and 2-time champion Frédérique Delaprée).
- The airing dates were from mid-April to early June, and both took a two-week break due to a tournament held in May. The only difference is that Julia's streak was interrupted by the Battle of the Decades (special reunion tournament) while James' run was interrupted by the 2019 Teachers Tournament (an annual tournament). Also, after winning two weeks after the tournament, the defeat day was the first Monday of June.
- Both were in second place before the last FJ. The difference was that Julia dropped third.
Amy Schneider[]
- Both of them experienced their first appearances and their departures on the same day of the week. Julia is Monday, Amy is Wednesday.
- Both lost to the men's champion, who had a single win.
- In the ToC where they appeared, two or more 10 consecutive champions including themselves appeared.
Personal life[]
A native of Wilmette, Illinois, Collins graduated from The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia in 2001. She earned a double-major bachelor's degree in art history and history from Wellesley College in 2005, and a master's degree in logistics and supply chain management engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010. She is married to 6-time champion and 2011 Tournament of Champions winner Roger Craig.
Trivia[]
- She is the first woman to be seeded with the No. 1 seed in the ToC, and she is the second winner of the most prize money among ToC participants after S25 Larissa Kelly.
- For the first time among 10-win champions, the regular game first appearance date and last appearance date are the same day of the week.
- She is the oldest among the 10 champions at the time of appearance.
- Like David Madden (12th game), he is the champion with the lowest Coryat Score ever ($8,000, First game) among the champions with 10 consecutive wins.
- The last 5-time+ champion before the Co-champions system was abolished. Arthur Chu is the last male. After that, the next five consecutive champions came out in 96 games until Vaughn Winchell, and six or more wins in 156 games (Kerry Greene) came out, so the period of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period was long.
- She is the champion who sat in the middle when he was a contender out of the champions with 10 wins so far. Of the 10+ champions to date, only Ken Jennings and Arthur Chu have been seated in the middle with Julia.
- Even though she has won 20 games in a row, she hasn't appeared in any Jeopardy! Invitational Tournaments yet.