Kavya Shivashankar, an eighth grader from Olathe, Kansas, correctly spelled L-a-o-d-i-c-e-a-n to win the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night. Kavya won at the end of a championship round in which runner-up Tim Ruiter was eliminated on "maecenas" and third-place finisher Aishwarya Pastapur was eliminated on "menhir."
Making her fourth appearance in the national bee, Kavya looked calm and collected throughout, never wavering as she spelled words like "phoresy" in the championship round. (The other championship round words that were spelled correctly were antonomasia, bouquiniste, oriflamme, guayabera, isagoge and sophrosyne.)
In earlier rounds, Kavya effortlessly rattled off seemingly challenging words like "hydrargyrum," "blancmange" and "baignoire."
Having finished in the Top 10 each of the last three years, Kavya was considered one of the favorites entering the bee. A student at California Trail Junior High School, Kavya enjoys playing the violin, bicycling, swimming, and learning Indian classical dance. She plans to become a neurosurgeon.
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Spelling Bee Photos
Kavya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas, is embraced by her mother Sandy Shivashankar, and sister Vanya Shivashankar, 7, after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "laodicean", in Washington, on Thursday, May 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
AP
WASHINGTON - MAY 28: Speller Kavya Shivashankar (C) of Olathe, Kansas, receives a group hug from her father Mirle, her mother Sandy and her younger sister Vanya after she won the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition May 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word "Laodicean" and became the champion in round 16. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kavya Shivashankar;Mirle Shivashankar;Vanya Shivashankar;Sandy Shivashankar
Getty Images
WASHINGTON - MAY 28: Speller Kavya Shivashankar (in white) of Olathe, Kansas, receives a group hug from her father Mirle, her mother Sandy and her younger sister Vanya after she won the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition May 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word "Laodicean" and became the champion in round 16. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kavya Shivashankar;Mirle Shivashankar;Vanya Shivashankar;Sandy Shivashankar
Getty Images
WASHINGTON - MAY 28: Speller Kavya Shivashankar (C) of Olathe, Kansas, receives a group hug from her father Mirle, her mother Sandy and her younger sister Vanya after she won the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition May 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word "Laodicean" and became the champion in round 16. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kavya Shivashankar;Mirle Shivashankar;Vanya Shivashankar;Sandy Shivashankar
Getty Images
Speller Kavya Shivashankar (C) from Olathe, Kansas, is congratulated by her father Mirle Shivashankar and mother Sandy Shivashankar after winning the 2009 National Spelling Bee in Washington May 28, 2009. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word Laodicean to win. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES EDUCATION SOCIETY)
Reuters
REFILE - ADDING IDENTITY OF PARENTS Speller Kavya Shivashankar (C) from Olathe, Kansas, is congratulated by her father Mirle Shivashankar and mother Sandy Shivashankar after winning the 2009 National Spelling Bee in Washington May 28, 2009. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word Laodicean to win. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES EDUCATION SOCIETY)
Reuters
Speller Kavya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas, lifts the trophy after winning the 2009 National Spelling Bee in Washington May 28, 2009. Shivashankar correctly spelled the word Laodicean to win. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES EDUCATION SOCIETY)
Reuters
Kavya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas, right, celebrates her winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee with her father Mirle Shivashankar, and sister Vanya Shivashankar, 7, in Washington, on Thursday, May 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
AP
Kavya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas, reacts after winning the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition in Washington, DC, on May 28, 2009. Shivashankar won the best speller of the year title competing with 293 spellers. AFP PHOTO/Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Tim A. Ruiter from Reston, Virginia, reacts after a misspell at the end of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition in Washington, DC, on May 28, 2009. Kavya Shivashankar won the best speller of the year title competing with 293 spellers. AFP PHOTO/Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I'm sorry Michael, how is this sports related? Dont you have some MMA to worry about?
dude spoiler alert, what the hell is wrong with you? did you even think about those in the west coast? sure you know who the winner is three hours from now. I swore I wouldn't go to any spelling related website and - lo and behold - f'ing FANHOUSE ruins it. You my non-friend have just ruined the only thing I look forward to every year. You should be thinking about ways to kill yourself right about now.
Since when is a spelling bee considered sports? Ridiculous!
As a Virginian, I was naturally pulling for the young man from Centreville, but congrats to the winner.
Hey..I have no problem bending the rules of the definition of "sport" to include the Spelling Bee.
Which, you know, was on ESPN. So..there.
So poker is a sport since its on ESPN? They are almost like Mtv now
Wow !!..man..,this little genius kinda reminds of
ME when I was 14 and in a spelling-bee contest
"CAT" C-A-???????????????