A whiz kid from Florida took home the title of America’s best young speller after a thrilling tie-break in which he swallowed a whopping 29 words in 90 seconds.
12-year-old Bruhat Soma was crowned the winner of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Baltimore on Thursday after storming to victory by correctly spelling mind-boggling words including Hoofddorp and heautophany.
Nachschläge – a type of musical note – and ashwagandha – an herb used in medicine – also helped Soma to victory over runner-up Faizan Zaki, 12.
The spell was only the second in the event’s 99-year history and was seen by millions as the country’s brightest students competed for a $50,000 prize.
12-year-old Bruhat Soma was crowned the winner of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday in Baltimore by storming to victory in a tense period
To reach the finals, eight students had to complete eight do-or-die rounds of the game, eliminating 244 participants.
The first word of Thursday’s rounds also led to the elimination of the first finalist, when 14-year-old Rishabh Saha stumbled over the word “desmotrope.”
In the next few rounds, Kirsten Santos, 13, and Shrey Parikh, 12, were eliminated from the competition by apophasis – raising an issue by pretending not to talk about it – and kanin – a type of cooked rice, respectively.
Zaki managed to pass the spell by correctly spelling nicuri – a type of Brazilian palm tree – while Soma’s spelling of Hoofddorp got him into the play-offs.
Ananya Prassanna had the chance to join them in the spell, but she failed to catch ‘murrina’ – a disease in Central America that wipes out livestock – which she spelled marina.
At the start of the play-off, the crowd reportedly chanted “spell-off, spell-off!” as the two nervous contestants lined up behind a buzzer.
They were each given 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible, with an incorrect answer not ending the timer as speed was as important as accuracy.
Both participants were given the same list of words in the same order, while the other was isolated from the stage so they could not hear the words.
Runner-up Faizan Zaki prays before his turn in the spell, where he swallowed a whopping 20 words in 90 seconds but failed to win
Both contestants shook hands as Soma (left) emerged victorious over Zaki (right) with a record 29 words in 90 seconds
A shower of confetti fell from the ceiling as Soma was crowned champion, with the 12-year-old Floridian appearing shocked as his name was read out
Bruhat’s delighted family joined Bruhat on stage, as his father described it as ‘the proudest moment for the family’
Footage of Soma’s 29-word record (the previous record was 22) showed the child prodigy sensationally spelling words that most people had never heard of.
He appeared to be using his hands to mimic typing the letters on a keyboard as he did so, flying through words including ‘asarotum’ – a Roman-style painted pavement – and scintillante – a musical direction.
Zaki was able to spell a whopping 20 words and although he didn’t make it to the top prize, he won a second-place consolation trophy and $25,000.
A shower of confetti fell from the ceiling as Soma was crowned champion, with the 12-year-old Floridian appearing shocked as his name was read out.
“I can’t describe it,” he said as he handed over the trophy. “I’m still shaking.”
His delighted family joined Bruhat on stage in what his father described as “the proudest moment for the family.”
When the tournament took place this week, this year’s favourite, Shradha Rachamreddy, 14, suffered a shock elimination in the semi-finals.
She misspelled “varan,” a type of lizard.