One 15-letter word stood between Faizan and the title of best speller in the English language. He nailed it
It was a riveting conclusion to a competition that started in 1925 and appears to have a bright future. Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company, had a few dozen former champions on hand to celebrate the centennial of an event that began when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington.
Faizan lost to Bruhat Soma last year in a tiebreaker known as a 'spell-off'. He became only the fifth runner-up to come back and win and the first since Sean Conley in 2001.
With the winner's haul of $US52,500 ($81,700) added to his second-place prize of $US25,000, Faizan increased his bee earnings to $US77,500. His big splurge with his winnings last year? A $US1500 Rubik's cube with 21 squares on each side.
This is the last year the bee will be held at its home for the past 14 years, a convention centre just outside Washington on the banks of the Potomac River. In 2026, the competition returns to the nation's capital at Constitution Hall, a nearly century-old concert venue near the White House.
Other finalists
– Aishwarya Kallakuri, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Concord, North Carolina, and winner of the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee.
– Harini Murali, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Edison, New Jersey, a finalist last year and the younger sister of Navneeth Murali, who would have been a top contender in the 2020 bee had it not been cancelled because of COVID-19.
–Esha Marupudi, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Chandler, Arizona, who is competing at the bee for the first time.
–Oliver Halkett, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Los Angeles and a two-time bee participant.
–Sarvadnya Kadam, a three-time speller and a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Visalia, California.
–Sarv Dharavane, an 11-year-old from Dunwoody, Georgia, who made the semifinals last year as a fourth-grader.
–Brian Liu, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Great Neck, New York, who was a semifinalist two years ago but didn't make it to the bee in 2024.
–Akshaj Somisetty, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and a two-time speller who leapt from quarterfinalist to finalist.
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