The Scripps National Spelling Bee has a new champion: 14-year-old Dave Shah of Largo, Florida.
The teen beat his final opponent, Charlotte Walsh of Arlington, Virginia, in eighth grade, by correctly spelling the word “psammophile,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “an organism that prefers or thrives in soil or sandy areas.”
“It’s surreal,” Shah said after being declared the hero. “I don’t know if it settled down. My legs are still shaking!”
Before Shah’s final turn at the microphone, Walsh misspelled the word “daviely”, allowing Shah to pounce and claim the victory.
Shah had to spell a total of 15 words in Thursday’s contest, becoming the 95th Scripps Spelling Bee champion, and taking home a grand prize of $50,000.
He was one of 11 finalists on Thursday. Two competitors are eliminated in the first round after they misspell their words, while a third is eliminated in the second round, in which the speakers are prompted with a multiple-choice question about the word’s definition.
Six other students were eliminated in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, including Yuta’s Surya Kapu – the only repeat finalist in this year’s bee.
Then it was Shah vs. Walsh. Shah nailed his word, “bathyometer”, while Walsh misspelled her last word of the night, “devilly”.
This year’s contest did not lead to a “spelling” – It is practical debuted last year In response to a Historic tie eight times on the title in 2019. The spell, which would have happened this year if a champion had not been named the one-hour, 55-minute bee tag, gives each contestant 90 seconds to spell a series of words.
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