The Scripps National Spelling Bee wrapped up in historic fashion last night (May 30), crowning eight co-champions. After 20 rounds, a single overall winner couldn’t be determined, and the competition almost stretched into the next day. While several years’ Bees have ended with two contestants splitting the title, the competition has never concluded with an eight-way tie.
This year, there were 565 registered spellers from US states and territories, as well as international contestants from seven other countries.
You can read through the Bee’s winning words, dating back to 1925, on its website. Here are the winners from the past two decades, and the word they had to spell to take home the trophy:
Karthik Nemmani, 14, from McKinney, Texas, holds the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship trophy.
Ananya Vinay, 12, from Fresno, Calif., with her mother.
Co-champions Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Painted Post, New York, and Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, Texas.
Co-champions Vanya Shivashankar, of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, of St. Louis, Missouri.
Co-champions Ansun Sujoe, 13, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Sriram Hathwar, 14, of Painted Post, New York.
Arvind Mahankali, 13, of Bayside Hills, New York.
Snigdha Nandipati, 14, of San Diego, California
Sukanya Roy, 14, of South Abington Township, Pennsylvania.
Anamika Veeramani, 14, of North Royalton, Ohio.
Kavya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas.
Sameer Mishra, from West Lafayette, Indiana.
Evan M. O’Dorney, 13, of San Ramon, California.
Kerry Close of Spring Lake, New Jersey.
Anurag Kashyap, 13, of Poway, California.
David Tidmarsh, 14, of South Bend, Indiana.
Sai R.. Gunturi, 13, of Dallas, Texas.
Pratyush Buddiga of Denver, Colorado.
Sean Conley, 13, of Anoka, Minnesota.
George Abraham Thampy, 12 of Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Nupur Lala, 14, from Tampa, Florida.
