Tampa Bay’s Bruhat Soma triumphed in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, clinching victory by correctly spelling 29 words in a thrilling 90-second spell-off. This win marks the second consecutive year a student from the Tampa Bay area has taken home the trophy.
Bruhat, a seventh-grader at Turner/Bartels K-8 School in Tampa, Florida, outshone 245 competitors, making this the largest field since 2019. Participants, aged 8 to 15, hailed from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and international regions including the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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The competition, held in National Harbor, Maryland, showcased exceptional young spellers from diverse backgrounds, highlighting the global reach and cultural diversity of the event.
“When they first announced there was a spell-off, my heart was pumping so fast but then I realized – because I was practicing spell-offs for six months – I realized that, ‘Maybe I have a shot at winning,’” Bruhat told CNN’s John Berman and Kate Bolduan Friday morning. “And I did.”
The word that crowned Bruhat champion: abseil. To officially get the big prize, Bruhat correctly spelled habitude, indumentum, dehnstufe, Okvik and Hoofddorp, and correctly defined “sine qua non,” reports CNN.
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