Well, take i’s quiz, using words from the contest, for yourself…
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The winners of the 89th annual competition – held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland – are Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning, New York, and Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, Texas. They’re all young Cam Newton’s, just dabbing on them folks when they spell “condignly” without missing that “g”. “I mean, I’m just in fifth grade”, drawing laughter from the crowd. “I wanted Jairam to win”.
“Hello again”, Jairam said to Bailly when he stepped up to the microphone. Nihar, at age 11, is the youngest victor of the bee on record.
The late-night duel twice saw Nihar (11) fail to capitalize on mistakes by Jairam (13) and claim the title outright. I found myself rooting for him, the same way I root for Steph Curry to hit 38-footers when he takes them.
Jairam misspelled the word “drahthaar” in the 26th round. Most everyone believed the contest was over.
Speaking afterwards, Nihar thanked his mother and said: “I can’t say anything”. “I was sad because I didn’t want it to end”. He also enjoys playing football with his best friends and playing video games – especially his favourite, Batman: Arkham City.
Congratulations to Nihar and Jairam!
Once the championship rounds started, commerical breaks ended and the spellers alternated spots at the microphone for almost an hour. They chatted while others were spelling, high-fived after their words and embraced after they won. Both times, Nihar followed up with his own flub.
While many may not consider the Spelling Bee to be a sporting event, the pressure that these young people face is like the pressure in any athletic competition. Those efforts were in vain.
Snehaa bowed out on the first word of the championship round, misspelling “usucapion”.
Cooper Komatsu of Los Angeles was clearly nervous when it came his time to spell. He was the second speller eliminated in primetime Thursday.
The result is a list that would likely make the super spellers competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee laugh.
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On Tuesday, a preliminary exam was administered to all Bee participants.
