The 2014 National Scripps Spelling Bee ended in a tie for the first time in more than 50 years on Thursday evening.
According to the Associated Press, Sriram Hathwar, 14, of New York and Ansun Sujoe, 13, of Texas, spelled so many words correctly that they both were declared winners.
In the event, if more than one individual is left standing, the contestants battle it out from a word-championship list. If that list runs out, more than one finalist can win the spelling bee.
Reuters noted that the bee came to an end after Hathwar spelled "stichomythia" correctly and Sujoe spelled "feuilleton" correctly.
The boys recognized the stiff competition and said that they were happy to be co-champions.
"The competition was against the dictionary, not against each other,” Sriram said.
The seventh and eighth-graders will receive more than $30,000 in cash and prizes and will each take home the coveted trophy that they shared onstage during the live ESPN broadcast.