The 14-year-old from California correctly spelled 32 words to set a new spell-off record.
After three days of fierce competition, 247 contestants and 18 grueling rounds, the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee has a new champion. Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, claimed the title Thursday night at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., setting a new spell-off record in the process and taking home $52,500 in cash along with a collection of additional prizes.
The win is the culmination of years of preparation for Parikh, who has competed in the bee three times. He placed 89th in his first appearance in 2022 and finished third in 2024 before finally reaching the top of the podium in this, the competition’s 101st year.
How the night unfolded
Nine finalists took the stage for Thursday evening’s championship rounds, working through seven elimination-style spelling rounds and one multiple-choice vocabulary round. The field held firm for several rounds before the dreaded elimination bell began ringing in round three, which saw four contestants exit in rapid succession. By the end of round seven, only two spellers remained: Parikh and 12-year-old Ishaan Gupta of Jersey City, New Jersey.
When both successfully navigated their eighth word, officials wheeled a silver podium fitted with a buzzer to center stage. The crowd, sensing what was coming, responded with a collective gasp. A spell-off was about to decide the champion.
Each finalist had 90 seconds at the buzzer to spell as many words correctly as possible. Gupta went first, answering each new word by pressing the buzzer to advance through the list. Then it was Parikh’s turn. When the counting was complete, Parikh had spelled 32 words correctly, with cashaw, a type of plant in the gourd family, as his final entry. Gupta had spelled 25. The record had been broken. The previous best in a spell-off was 29, set in 2024.
A new record and a cool head under pressure
It is the third time a spell-off has decided the Scripps National Spelling Bee since the format was introduced in 2021. Harini Logan won the first in 2022 by spelling 22 words correctly. Bruhat Soma won in 2024 with 29.
Parikh admitted he was not thrilled when the spell-off format was triggered, saying he felt traditional spelling rounds better captured the spirit of the competition. But he steadied himself, got some water and focused on executing in the moment. The word that gave him the most pause all night was Bhubaneswar, a city in India, where he said doubt crept in despite his confidence in the answer. He trusted his instincts and got it right.
Once a word was in front of him, he said, the nerves disappeared. The rest was simply execution.
What Parikh takes home
Along with the $52,500 cash prize, Parikh will receive hundreds of dollars in reference works, flight credits and an astronaut meet-and-greet at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The newly crowned champion, who estimates he spent roughly five hours a day studying spelling over the past year, said he is eager to redirect that time toward tennis and math competitions now that the bee is behind him.
Back in Washington after 15 years
This year’s competition marked the first time in 15 years that the Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C., after years in Maryland and a pandemic-era edition in Florida. Organizers returned the event to the capital for its 101st anniversary, citing the symbolic weight of the city and its accessible museums and monuments as fitting rewards for young competitors.
A total of 247 spellers representing all 50 states and territories including Guam arrived for Bee Week, ranging in age from 9 to 15. The 3,700-seat venue was filled with families, spellers who had already been eliminated and fans who had simply come to witness the spectacle.