Shrey Parikh bounces back, battles nerves and dominates spell-off to win
the National Spelling Bee
[May 29, 2026]
By BEN NUCKOLS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shrey Parikh felt his body shake from nerves and
doubts every time he walked to the microphone at the Scripps National
Spelling Bee, the final test of a six-year competitive spelling career
marked by triumph and heartbreak that he knew could end at any moment.
Then he listened to pronouncer Jacques Bailly, and his dour body
language vanished as he nodded vigorously, his tell that, yes, he knew
the words he was asked to spell. All of them.
“Once I get the word,” Shrey said, “I'm not really nervous anymore,
because then it's all in my control.”
Shrey arrived as a favorite and walked away as a National Spelling Bee
champion Thursday night, outlasting a deep and experienced group of
finalists and beating Ishaan Gupta in a lightning-round tiebreaker that
looked like it was over as soon as Shrey raced through his first word.
His final tally: 32 words spelled correctly in 90 seconds, a record for
the shootout-style finish that was first used in 2022.
“I was counting and I'm like, OK, this is more than 30,” said Shrey's
mother, Khyati Mehta. “And at that point, I'm like, ‘I think this is
it.’"
Ishaan battled gamely, getting 25 words right during the spell-off, but
he was more deliberate and hesitant from the start. The competitors
stood next to each other as Scripps officials announced what everyone in
a lively crowd at Constitution Hall already knew, and Shrey turned and
shook Ishaan's hand.
After Sarv Dharavane bowed out in third place for the second consecutive
year, Shrey and Ishaan had only one conventional round before the buzzer
for the spell-off was placed on the stage. Ishaan was escorted away —
the tiebreaker is the only time spellers get the same words — and Shrey
had a last bout with nerves as he stood there for five minutes while
crews tried, and failed, to fix a technical glitch with the buzzer.
“That was really, like, scary for me,” he said.
The spell-off moves so fast that it’s impossible to tell which word
secures the title, but Scripps later announced that “bromocriptine” — a
polypeptide alkaloid that mimics the activity of dopamine — was the
winner. Shrey could get a dopamine hit from the winner's haul of $52,500
in cash, a custom trophy and a package of prizes.
He becomes the 31st of the past 37 champions with Indian heritage, a run
that began with Nupur Lala's victory in 1999.
Bouncing back from a school bee stunner
A 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, Shrey took an unusual
route to the title. He finished third in 2024, but last year he was
absent. He missed his regional bee, too — because, woozy from a virus
that caused a fever, he blanked on the word “calipers” and bowed out of
a competition that any speller of his talent would consider child's
play: the spelling bee at Day Creek Intermediate School.
“Right now I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m just so happy
and relieved, and just such a flood of emotions,” Shrey said. “At my
school bee last year, I was really dejected and just very upset. It
didn’t even sink in until the next day. I had a really tough time, but
I’m glad I was able to bounce back.”
After a few months off, he rededicated himself, seeking every edge he
could find through coaching and study guides. In online bees against
many of the same spellers he faced this week in Washington, he won again
and again.
“Whenever I would quiz him, he would take notice of his missed words.
He'd analyze every missed word he had, try to figure out why he missed
it,” said Sohum Sukhatankar, a co-champion in 2019 who coached Shrey
along with Sam Evans and Vijaya Ganesh. “All the time I coached him,
he'd never miss a word twice.”
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E.W. Scripps Company president and CEO Adam Symson, right, holds the
trophy over winner of the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Shrey
Parikh, 14, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., at DAR Constitution Hall,
Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
 Evans, who has worked with each of
the past three champions, said Shrey's work ethic stood out.
“I’ve really never seen someone put this much effort into spelling
bees, into learning everything that he possibly can,” Evans said.
“Shrey is relentless.”
A high-quality final comes to an abrupt end
The spell-off will never be popular among bee purists who prefer to
see the final two contestants go head-to-head for as many rounds as
it takes. Because it emphasizes speed and memorization, it lacks the
intrigue of watching a speller work out the intricacies of a tricky
word with odd vowel patterns or sneaky double consonants.
“It's a perversion of many values that I and many in the spelling
community hold dear,” said Navneeth Murali, who competed through
2020 and now coaches. “I think everyone would have liked to see a
duel, but it looks like the spell-off is here to stay. It’s
something that we’ll have to adapt to.”
A stout, experienced group of nine finalists showed off their skills
by going 18 for 18 at the start, breezing through the first spelling
and vocabulary rounds. Aiden Meng ended that streak when he was
tripped up by “catometope” to start the second spelling round.
Then the crowd gasped when the bell rung on two thought to be
capable of winning it all: Oliver Halkett for “Faesulae” and Zwe
Spacetime for “vaesite,” words with tricky combinations of origins
and vowel sounds.
Oliver and Zwe are eighth-graders, which means they have now aged
out of the competition. Sarv, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from
Dunwoody, Georgia, has two years of eligibility left to try to
repeat Shrey's achievement of going from third to first. Ishaan, a
12-year-old seventh-grader from Jersey City, New Jersey, can try
again next year too.
The bee’s move from a suburban convention center to Constitution
Hall was a point of contention for spellers and their families
because of inconveniences it caused. But Thursday's finals had a
lively atmosphere, with more intimate seating and better sight lines
bringing the crowd closer to the action, and the broadcast got a
reboot with ESPN's Mina Kimes hosting alongside longtime analyst
Paul Loeffler.
Though the way Scripps determined the champion will be debated — and
Shrey didn't even get the winner's usual shower of confetti — there
was no doubt he was deserving.
“When it comes to competition, he goes all the way,” said his
father, Guarav Parikh.
Or, as Evans put it: “He's got that dog in him.”
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