New York - SOME quick thinking at the end won US$1 million (S$1.5 million) for a Chinese-American sibling team of Harvard-educated lawyers on CBS TV's reality competition, The Amazing Race.

But it was a heartbreaking finish for the competition's first deaf contestant when its 14th edition ended in Maui, Hawaii, and was televised on Sunday.

Winners Victor Jih, 35, and his sister Tammy, 26, explored a sometimes contentious relationship during their journey.

'I just tried to enjoy the race for what it was and be true to my emotions, the highs and lows,' Victor said after the victory. The Jihs practise law in California.

Three teams went from Beijing to Hawaii for the game's final set of competitions, which involved preparing pigs for feasts and racing on personal watercrafts to find clues floating on the water.

Luke Adams, 22, just graduated as the valedictorian of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and raced with his mother Margie, 50.

They were in the lead heading into the last competition, which involved picking out surfboards with insignias representing every leg of their trip. Luke started fast but could not get the last one right.

As he was frustrated, Victor completed his task and headed into a taxi for the finish line. So did the third team, two former National Football League cheerleaders who were trying to be the first all-female team to win the race.

Cara Rosenthal, 26, and pal Jaime Edmondson, 29, finished second, hampered at the end by a clueless cab driver.

Margie tried to console her son during the final cab ride to the finish line after 64,400km.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times