As soon as Faizan Zaki heard what would become his winning word at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, his eyes lit up.
Without hesitation – and without asking for any further information – Faizan launched into spelling “éclaircissement,” pretending to type each letter on an imaginary keyboard with the signature confidence that had propelled him through 21 rounds of spelling. Only his trembling voice betrayed his excitement.
Moments later, confetti rained upon the 13-year-old seventh-grader from Texas as he was declared the champion and handed an enormous ceramic trophy.
“I don’t even know what I’m going to say. I’m just really happy,” Faizan said, visibly shaking.
Faizan, who was competing in his fourth Scripps National Spelling Bee, becomes only the fifth contestant to win the year after finishing in second place – a feat not seen at the Bee in more than 20 years. He was the runner-up last year, losing in a rapid-fire spell-off tiebreaker.
More than 240 spellers competed in this year’s Scripps National Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The contest was celebrating the centennial anniversary of the first national spelling bee held in June 1925.
Faizan’s spelling journey this year nearly came to a premature end in the 18th round of the Bee, when he heard the word “commelina” and immediately responded with, “K-A-M- …”
He stopped himself.
“Oh, okay, let me think, let me think. All the information,” Faizan said, before realizing he had already botched the first letter. “Oh, shoot.”
However, because the two other remaining competitors in that round had also missed their words, they were all reinstated, a dramatic development that elicited gasps and applause from the audience inside a ballroom at the Gaylord.
From his seat, Faizan flashed a thumbs-up to his supporters in the audience – his friends, his parents, his twin sister, Zara, and his coach, Scott Remer. He knew he had another chance, Faizan later said, and he was confident he would redeem himself.
“I’ll slow it down,” Faizan said when he stepped up to the microphone in the 19th round.
“This word has a homonym,” head pronouncer Jacques Bailly cautioned him.
“Bro,” Faizan quipped.
Faizan then vanquished “Cupar,” a burgh in eastern Scotland south of Dundee, again without asking for any information. In the next round, his only remaining opponent, Sarvadnya Kadam of California, stumbled on “Huarpes.”
Faizan spelled “Chaldee” correctly, giving him the opening to spell one more word correctly for the win.
When the confetti gun exploded and his ascension to the top of the Bee was official, Faizan collapsed onto the stage. Arms outspread and legs akimbo, he watched the confetti fall above him.
It was only then, in that moment, he said, that his victory began to feel real.
“I really hoped I would get first,” Faizan said in a post-victory interview. “But I didn’t want to say I would. The spelling bee can really be all about luck.”
Faizan has been competing in spelling bees since he was small. On his first trip to the Scripps national championships, he was just 7 years old.
Over the past two years – after being eliminated in a vocabulary quiz round in 2023 – he dedicated himself to strengthening his vocabulary skills. After losing last year in a spell-off, he said he added practicing for speed to his daily regimen of word drills. Faizan’s parents estimate he spent about eight hours a day practicing.
Faizan finished second in the 2024 bee after spelling 20 words correctly in 90 seconds. Bruhat Soma, who accurately spelled 29 words in the same compressed period, won the title.
And though he has devoted his life to reaching the pinnacle of competitive spelling, Faizan said, he never really thought about what would happen once he did.
“From first grade to fourth grade, I thought I’ll just do this for fun,” Faizan said. “But then since I got second, a lot of people were expecting me to get first this year. … And I was too engrossed in the whole process of studying to really think about if I actually win.”
With Thursday’s victory, Faizan is the 17th champion from Texas, which has produced more national spelling bee champs than any other state.
Just nine spellers made it to the nationally broadcast finals on Thursday out of the 243 spellers who made it to the Bee earlier this week. Faizan was one of 65 with previous Bee experience – but just one of a small handful who had been to the national competition four times or more.
Harini Murali, 13, of Edison, New Jersey, made it to the finals alongside Faizan for what was also her fourth Bee – and her last shot at the trophy.
Harini heard the dreaded sound of the elimination bell in the 17th round. She stumbled on the word “tekke,” meaning a dervish monastery.
As the eighth-grader exited stage left and descended the stairs toward the family section of the auditorium, Harini’s brother – and coach – Navneeth Murali, 19, was waiting with open arms. Harini buried her face in his shoulder.
“I told her that she guessed well … and that it was a hard word,” Navneeth Murali said later.
As Harini sat down with her family, she wiped tears from her cheeks. Then the bell rang again. Three spellers were eliminated in rapid succession, leaving just three to duke it out onstage.
The Bee finals broadcast ran a tad over this year – with Faizan’s winning word coming around 10:20 p.m.
By round 18, Faizan was letting out yawns as his fellow spellers stepped up to the microphone. He was growing more tired by the minute, he later said, and wanted to get the contest over with.
Faizan later said that’s partly why he was tearing through words without pausing to ask for definitions, roots or other information that spellers typically contemplate.
“At that point, I wasn’t nervous. I think the reason I did that was I just wanted to go back to my hotel room or go see my friends. I was really tired,” Faizan said. “But the next time, when I got my championship word, I calmed down.”
His mom, Arshia Quadri, has a different explanation.
“He does that sometimes,” Quadri said. “He just rushes in. I mean, he knows the words, he’s prepared for this moment and he’s not a guy that usually gets stressed, but I think there were some nerves, some pressure tonight after being the runner-up last year.”
Faizan insists he wasn’t nervous. In fact, he said, he might try his hand at a different kind of academic competition: the math olympiad.
Why not, he said. “I like math, too.”
