Texas Boy Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old boy from Allen, claimed the Scripps National Spelling Bee title Thursday evening.

Zaki correctly spelled the word ‘eclaircissement’ to win the 100th annual spelling competition.

Zaki completed a journey from runner-up last year to champion this time around, which earned him $52,500. He won $25,000 for second place last year.

Zaki actually had a chance to win the bee earlier when Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane missed their words back-to-back. Zaki needed to spell the next two words correctly, but he missed on ‘commelina,’ which kept the competition alive.

“I’m definitely going to be having nightmares about that tonight,” Zaki joked in an interview afterward.

Zaki also qualified for the national spelling bee in 2019, 2023 and 24. He is the 30th of the past 36 champions to be of Indian origin.