National Spelling Bee again crowns co-champions (Video)

After nearly 300 spellers competed at The Scripps National Spelling Bee only two were left standing and with each passing round it became clear that words like “etymology,” "hippocrepiform,” and "sprachgefühl" were no match for them.

Since Vanya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas and Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, of Chesterfield, Missouri went through all the words without missing a beat they were both crowned champions. USA Today reported that this marks the second year in a row that the spelling bee has ended in a tie.

The result of co-champions came after Shivashankar correctly spelled "scherenschnitte" and then Venkatachalam correctly spelled “nunatak” to make it official.

After the win, the teens were embraced by their parents on stage. Shivashankar’s sister, Kavya, who was the 2009 champ, was also there. NPR noted that she won previously by correctly spelling the word “Laodicean.” The two are the first siblings to ever be crowned.

Shivashankar dedicated the victory to her late grandmother and Venkatachalam said that he knew to win he had to “just put in the work."

The perfect spellers each took home a trophy and more than $35,000 in cash and prizes.

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