“Éclaircissement” was the winning word, but Faizan Zaki spelled success.
After last year coming in second on the big stage, the Dallas seventh grader won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.
When Faizan, 13, spelled “éclaircissement,” which implies the clarifying of anything vague, in the last word to claim the title of national spelling champ, he exhibited little doubt.
As confetti showered, he dropped to the stage in ecstasy.
I have no idea what to say. I just happen to be really delighted.
The national championship culminated in a surprise. When three remained, Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane mispronounced their sentences in what might have been the last round.
That seemed to be Faizan’s great opportunity. But he hurried to spell his term before a fitting explanation and made a mistake on the first letter—a gaffe on “commelina,” a genus of plant that sent all three back for an extra round.
Faizan laughed about the pressure as he later confronted what would be the winning word and after Jacques Bailly, the official pronouncer of the spelling bee, advised everyone to inhale.
Faizan said, “That did not help at all,” and the audience burst in laughter.
From Arizona, California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas nine spellers made it to Thursday’s last round.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is commemorated this year as the 100th. There were just nine contenders for the first contest.
Times have changed. 243 young people entered the Spelling Bee this year, which began Tuesday at National Harbor, Maryland.
Having qualified in regional events in March, those 243 young spellers headed for the national tournament.
Organizers claimed almost all of the children who made it to the nationals were there for the first time. There were fifty-three in the national contest for 2024 and 178 national first-timers.
