By Steve Gorman
(Reuters) -Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old boy from the Dallas area, won the 97th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, swiftly nailing the French-derived word “eclaircissement,” synonymous with enlightenment, in the 21st round of the contest finals.
He edged out 14-year-old Sarvadnya Kadam, from Visalia, California, who finished in second place after misspelling “Uaupes,” a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America, in the 20th round.
Zaki, who was last year’s runner-up, had correctly spelled “Chaldee,” a dialect of the Biblical Aramaic language, in the 20th round. But under spelling bee rules, Zaki needed to land one more word in a solo round to claim the trophy.
He did so in round 21 by instantly and precisely spelling “eclaircissement” – defined as a clearing up of something obscure. He surprised the audience by giving his answer without taking the customary pause afforded contestants to ask the judges for more information about the word’s origins, meaning and pronunciation.
He was crowned champion in a hail of confetti before being joined on stage by his parents and other relatives, and will receive $50,000 in prize money.
Asked what he would do next, Zaki replied, “I’m probably going to stay up the entire night or something.”
Zaki, a resident of Allen, Texas, had nearly been eliminated in round 18 when he rushed, and stumbled over, the spelling of “commelina,” a genus for some 200 species of dayflowers.
But his two fellow finalists at that point, including Kadam, likewise fumbled their words, leading to a 19th round in which all three boys returned, but only two – Zaki and Kadam – survived to face off in the decisive 20th round.
Sarv Dharavane, an 11-year-old boy from Tucker, Georgia, finished in third place after misspelling “eserine,” the antidote of choice for many poisons, with one “s” too many.
Thursday’s total roster of nine finalists emerged from three days of competition at a convention center outside Washington, D.C., among 243 contestants aged eight to 14 who advanced from regional competitions across the country.
Challenged with some of the most difficult and least-used words that English has to offer, many young competitors amazed spectators with their ability to produce the correct spellings with poise and precision.
The Scripps media group has sponsored the event since 1925, with three years off during World War Two and one more for the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Most competitors were from the United States, coming from all 50 states. Other spellers came from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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