'90 Years of Tradition' First Ever African American Youth Winner in US Spelling Bee

Breaking the Indian Dominance... Final Victory with 'murraya'
14-Year-Old Basketball Prodigy... Practices 13,000 Words for 7 Hours a Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] For the first time in history, an African American teenager has won the over 90-year-old American English spelling bee competition.

According to BBC on the 9th (local time), Zaila Avant-garde (14), from New Orleans, Louisiana, secured the final victory at the '2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee' (SNSB) finals held in Orlando, Florida.

This competition is open to U.S. students in the 8th grade or younger who have not yet turned 16. Contestants listen to the pronouncer and spell the words correctly.

Avant-garde ultimately won by correctly spelling 'murraya,' a type of tropical tree, earning the honor of victory along with a $50,000 (approximately 57 million KRW) prize.

Eleven other contestants competed in the finals alongside Avant-garde.

She defeated her competitors by consecutively spelling words such as 'querimonious,' meaning 'complaining' or 'grumbling,' and 'solidungulate,' referring to an animal with a single hoof.

BBC reported that she is the first 'African American' to win the SNSB and dreams of becoming a professional basketball player.

Previously, in 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell, a 12-year-old girl from Jamaica, was the first Black winner.

Until now, the competition has been dominated by winners of South Asian descent, including those from India.

According to the Associated Press, this year is the first time since 2008 that no South Asian contestant has been among the winners or co-winners.

Avant-garde said she practiced spelling 13,000 words for an average of seven hours a day.

She already holds three world records, including dribbling multiple balls at once, and has appeared in commercials with NBA superstar Stephen Curry.

Earlier, on the 6th, the White House announced that Jill Biden, wife of U.S. President Joe Biden, would meet with participants and their families just before the finals to congratulate their academic achievements.

The SNSB was canceled last year for the first time in 75 years since 1945 due to COVID-19.

Since its inception in 1925, the competition has been held annually without fail except during World War II from 1943 to 1945.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.