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Faizan Zaki was declared the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 29. After three days of competition, Zaki beat the other nine finalists to win the competition.
It was an emotional moment as confetti rained down on the teenager, who finished as runner-up during the 2024 bee. Now, he won’t be eligible to compete again in the future, but this moment has certainly been a long time coming. Scroll down to learn more about Zaki.
How old is Faizan Zaki?
Zaki is just 13 years old. He is a middle school student and started his journey to the National Spelling Bee when he was just 7 years old. At the time, he had to compete against spellers who were several grades higher than him.
Where is Faizan Zaki from?
Zaki is from Dallas, Texas. He hails from Collins County and attends Rice Middle School in Plano, Texas.
What word did Faizan Zaki spell to win?
His winning word was “éclaircissement,” which means “the clearing up of something obscure.” Zaki did not hesitate as he spelled the word to be declared victorious.
He had a chance to win earlier on when there were just three contestants left. The two other spellers got their words wrong, but were brought back to the stage after Zaki’s flub on the word “commelina,” a genus of plant. Zaki rushed to give his answer before a proper explanation was given, leading him to think he was being given a different word.
Luckily, he was able to brush off the mistake, and let his fans know that he was still on track by giving the audience a thumbs up and continuing on.
What is Faizan Zaki’s history with the National Spelling Bee?
He made his first appearance in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee and was the youngest competitor at just 7 years old, with the oldest contestant being 15. He fell short of the Semifinals in the competition that year.
In 2023, Zaki tied for 21st place in the bee, then returned one year later and was the runner-up. Twelve-year-old Bruhat Soma was the champion that year after the two competed in a spell-off, which required them to see how many words they could spell in 90 seconds (Soma spelled 29 correctly, with Zaki rattling off 20).
“I was really disappointed then, but then I just had that sudden drive to keep doing better and to keep studying,” Zaki admitted. “So that’s what motivated me to do better. And now I’m here. I have the trophy.”
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