Zaila Avant-garde is the first African American to ever win the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the first African American to do so since the annual competition began in 1925. It’s an incredible achievement made even more impressive by the fact that she only began to spell competitively two years ago.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee finals took place Thursday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida, 209 young spellers having been whittled down to 11 throughout June’s virtual preliminaries, quarterfinals and semifinals. Last year the Scripps Spelling Bee was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic — the first time this had occurred since World War II (same goes for Wimbledon). This year the show was able to go on, but finalists were safely socially distanced and wore face masks when not spelling.

The competition was tough, Scripps having introduced a new word meaning component requiring contestants to answer multiple choice vocabulary questions. However by the sixth round of the 2021 final (and fifteenth round overall) there were only two contestants remaining. The previous round saw 13-year-old Bhavana Madini finish third after adding an unnecessary “e” to the end of “athanor,” leaving Avant-garde to duke it out with Chaitra Thummala, a 12 year old from San Francisco.

The pair traded words with neither dropping a vowel until two rounds later, when Thummala stumbled by using an “e” instead of an “o” in “neroli oil.” This opened up the opportunity for Avant-garde to grab the win by correctly spelling “Murraya,” defined as “a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.”

Avant-garde literally jumped for joy as she was declared the champion and colourful confetti rained down upon her. The new champion is not only Scripps’ first African American winner, but also the first winner from Louisiana.

“I guess [it was] kind of just luck,” said a charmingly humble Avant-garde during her post-competition interview. “Getting words I know for the most part — except for ‘Nepeta,’ which is a word I’ve always struggled with spelling. But I got it this time, so that’s all that matters!”

2021’s Scripps National Spelling Bee champion isn’t the only title Avant-garde holds. A skilled basketball player, she currently holds three Guinness World Records: most bounce juggles in one minute with four basketballs (255), most basketball bounces in 30 seconds with four basketballs (307), and most basketballs dribbled simultaneously by one person (six, tied with another record holder).

“It was super exciting to win [the Spelling Bee] because now I get to get a nice trophy, which is the best part of any win,” said Avant-garde.

The Scripps Cup isn’t the only prize Avant-garde will be taking home, though. The champion will also receive a commemorative medal, reference works from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopædia Britannica, and cash prizes totaling $52,500, providing a bit of extra support for her continuing education.