The Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC ended Thursday night with not one, but two winners. For the first time in over 50 years, the tournament ended in a tie.
Sriram Hathwar, 14, of Painted Post, New York and Ansun Sujoe, 13, of Fort Worth, Texas both spelled words incorrectly back-to-back. However, they were perfect for the next dozen words and they became co-champions, notes ESPN. It was the first time that happened since 1962.
“The competition was against the dictionary, not against each other,” Sriram said after they were presented the trophy. “I'm happy to share this trophy with him.”
According to USA Today, the rules of the event say that when it comes down to three contestants, they are tested by a list of 25 championship words. If there is no winner after those words, then there is a tie.
Sriram spelled “corpsbruder” wrong and then Ansum was tripped up by “antigropelos.” But they were perfect from then on, spelling words like “skandhas,” “hyblaean,” “feijoada,” “augenphilologie” and “sdrucciola” correctly. Sriram’s last word was “stichomythia” and Ansun had to spell “feuilleton” right to secure the tie.
“I'm really shocked," Ansun said after the win. "First, I'm going to take rest and then pretend everything's normal."