Indian American Harini Logan hoisted the championship trophy after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday.
The 14-year-old from San Antonio, TX won the first-ever spell off to claim the prize. The new format tested how many words she could spell correctly in 90 seconds.
Jagranjosh reports she spelled 21 of the 26 words right, besting 12-year old Vikram Raju who scored with 15 words in the final round to determine the champion.
This is the first time, the spell-off format has been used, according to USA Today. Judges decided to go to it after the final two contestants both failed on two words in a row between round 13 and 18.
“Just so surreal. This is such a dream” Logan said after winning.
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Logan at first thought she had been eliminated from the competition when she gave the definition for “pullulation”. However, the judges reversed their decision during a break and decided her definition could be correct.
“We activated the spell-off because it was the best chance to show the extent of these spellers’ preparation,” Bee executive director Dr. J. Michael Durnil said. “Clearly, they demonstrated their deep capacity for the competition.”
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