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P-r-o-d-i-g-i-o-u-s. Remarkably impressive, unprecedented.
Aka, these spelling bee superstars.
A record EIGHT new spelling bee champions have been crowned at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US state of Maryland.
Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao and Rohan Raja have all been named co-winners after a marathon three-and-a-half hour effort.
The best part about it? They don't have to split the prize!
Each champion will now take home a cash prize of $50,000 USD, reference books and $2500 savings bond.
It took 15 rounds of competition to whittle it down to the final eight, who then all held on for another five rounds of competition - or 47 correct words in a row.
Round 20 marked the cut-off: the spelling bee had run out of words. So with each correct answer, a new co-champ was declared.
"We're throwing the dictionary at you, and, so far, you are showing the dictionary who's boss," said the bee's pronouncer, Jacques Bailly.
The eight winners include six boys and two girls, ranging in age from 12 to 14.
Winning words included:
- Aiguillette
- Pendeloque
- Bougainvillea
- Erysipelas
- Palama
- Cernuous
- Odylic
- Auslaut
562 entrants took part this year, from across the United States and six other countries. The competition has been held for more than 90 years.
Source: Getty Images North America
