WASHINGTON—Student tributes from every state, as well as the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories and eight foreign nations came to the capital – young, talented, driven kids, each vying to win by outlasting the others. But this wasn’t the Hunger Games. It was the spelling games.
The 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee culminated in a final event Thursday evening as 10 of the world’s top spellers battled it out on stage in suburban Washington. Endurance was key, second only to knowledge.
And these teens had plenty of both.
But after three days spent spelling tougher-than-tough words, there wasn’t just one winner. There were two – Vanya Shivashankar, 13, from Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, from Chesterfield, Missouri. They beat out 283 students to walk away with $35,000 each in cash prizes and an honored place in history.
“I just put in the work throughout the entire year, without giving up,” Gokul said. Vanya agreed: “It definitely takes hard work and passion.”
After nine rounds of back-and-forth between the pair of eighth graders, Vanya tackled “scherenschnitte”, the art of cutting paper into decorative designs, in the 20th round. She knew she’d nailed it, and finished things off with a smile before leaving the podium.
But then only three words remained, a point raised by the Bee’s official pronouncer, Dr. Jacques Bailly. He told Gokul that if he spelled his next word correctly, the Bee would declare them co-champs. Because even if one teen misspelled a word in round 21, there wouldn’t be enough words left for the other speller to correctly spell the required “two-in-a-row” to score that trophy.
And when Gokul heard his word, he didn’t skip a beat. He didn’t ask a single question – He didn’t hesitate. He just went for it, confident and calm.
N-U-N-A-T-A-K. A hill or mountain surrounded by glaciers.
Confetti fell to broad applause. The trophy was theirs to share.
It was just like last year, after Sriram Hathwar, from New York, and Ansun Sujoe, from Texas, ran through the Bee’s word list to earn joint titles. Vanya and Gokul are now the fifth set of co-champions.
But Vanya’s win marks the first time two siblings have won the top spelling title. Her older sister, Kavya, won the Bee in 2009. So a knack for spelling runs in the family, Vanya said. And she’s glad to have her support.
“This is a dream come true, I can’t believe I’m up here,” Vanya said. “I’ve wanted this for such a long time.”
This was her fifth appearance at the national Bee, and Gokul’s fourth.
But his calm, cool demeanor on stage wasn’t the happy consequence of experience, he said: “Some people just have it naturally.”
Gokul said he was looking forward to what comes next: a family vacation to India and the NBA finals. He’s a longtime Cavaliers – and LeBron James – fan, he said.
For Vanya, she is looking forward to rest, relaxation and time with family. It’s a much-needed break, after having spent hours each day working with word lists.
“My dad is my main coach,” she said. “He comes up with study plans.”
Gokul said he dedicated four hours a day to prep for this year’s Bee. Clearly, it paid off.
But they weren’t alone in their dedication to their craft – a point not lost on either teen.
And they had nothing but praise for their competitors. Together, they started out in a group of 11 million students. “I’d say that everyone here is a champion,” Gokul said.
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