This stunning Spelling Bee winner photo sums it all up
Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, finished as a runner-up last year and was one of the three spellers left on Thursday when he was given "commelina." He immediately started spelling it wrong and told head judge Mary Brooks to ring the bell for an incorrect answer.
You can see that moment below, but he got through to spell the final word correct: éclaircissement, which he nailed right away without asking for language origin or to be used in a sentence.
BEST SPELLING BEE MOMENTS OF ALL TIME:
The result? A win and his reaction was simply the best:
No, it wasn't kamaaina, but a Mogollon (Shourav Dasari reference in 2015) attempt gone wrong for Faizan Zaki when he tried to spell "commelina" because he said "kam-" but then he realized he couldn't edit his answer 🙃 #spellingbee (R18)Mogolloned Cupar a round after 🫠 pic.twitter.com/VK38WA5lAJ
— ruletheword335 // TS 🐝 (@ruletheword335) May 30, 2025
You have to love it. He fell right to the ground in pure elation. And why did he spell words quickly? Per the Associated Press:
Faizan had a more nuanced explanation: After not preparing for the spell-off last year, he overcorrected, emphasizing speed during his study sessions.
Congrats to Faizan, who needed four tries to get the victory. Here he is talking about his preparation, in which he talked to CNN about how he focused on the vocabulary and the spell-off at the end:
One of this year's Spelling Bee favorites, Faizan Zaki, showing off his fashion knowledge on @CNN. 🐝 pic.twitter.com/eRWklcij4u
— Kenneth Cole (@kennethcole) May 29, 2025
What a win! And we'll leave it off with the photo of Zaki collapsed on stage, which sums it all up:
Awesome.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: National Spelling Bee winner photo of Faizan Zaki sums up his run
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