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Journalism of Courage
14-year-old Indian American Shrey Parikh wins Scripps Spelling Bee 2026
The three-day event began on Monday at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington and featured 247 participants representing all 50 US states.
E.W. Scripps Company president and CEO Adam Symson holds the trophy over winner of the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Shrey Parikh, 14, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, at DAR Constitution Hall on Thursday, May 28. (AP Photo)
A fourteen-year-old Indian-American student, Shrey Parikh, from California won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2026 on Friday after correctly spelling 32 words in 90 seconds. Parikh defeated New Jersey’s Ishan Gupta in the final round of the competition.
A finalist in the 2024 edition as well, Parikh walked away with several prizes, including USD 50,000, the Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal, USD 2,500 from Merriam-Webster, USD 1,000 in Delta flight credits and USD 400 worth of reference material from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The three-day event began on Monday at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington and featured 247 participants representing all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Department of Defense schools in Europe and five other countries: Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Nine contestants made it to the finals held on Thursday evening.
During the decisive spell-off round, Shrey and Ishaan were each given 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible from the same list.
According to the judges, Shrey correctly spelt 32 words, while Ishaan managed 25. Twelve-year-old Sarv Dharavane from Georgia secured the third position.
Shrey Parikh — 14-year-old who carried the momentum created last year
Shrey Parikh won against Ishaan Gupta in the final rapid-fire spell-off. The dramatic final on Thursday night ended with Shrey storming through the 90-second tiebreaker, correctly spelling 32 words to claim the championship. Ishaan managed 25 in the same round.
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The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, had finished third in 2024. Last year, however, he failed to advance after losing his school-level bee while recovering from a fever. Since then, he has emerged as one of the most dominant competitors on the spelling circuit, winning several online contests against many of the same finalists he faced in Washington this week. His victory earned him a customised trophy along with prize money worth $52,500.
“Right now I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m just so happy and relieved, and just such a flood of emotions,” Shrey was quoted as saying by news agency AP. “At my school bee last year, I was really dejected and just very upset. It didn’t even sink in until the next day. I had a really tough time, but I’m glad I was able to bounce back.”
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