Shruthika Padhy, a girl from Odisha, created history as she was crowned co-champion along with seven other contestants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest, held in the United States.
A resident of New Jersey and a student of Rosa International Middle School, Shrutika climbed her way to the throne by spelling words such as ‘limitrophe’, ‘aiguillette’ and ‘therblig’ correctly.
Incidentally, this was her fourth time at the renowned competition. The 13-year-old speller first appeared in 2016 and secured 22nd position. She then honed her skills to finish 17th in 2017. Last year, she bagged the tenth position. Her journey towards the winning position this year is indeed a reassuring tale of how grit and determination never fails.
The contest, held at Gayland National Resort in National Harbour of Oxon Hill Maryland in the USA, saw eight champions declared winners for the first time in the history of the 94-year-old Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. This year, the annual contest saw the participation of over five hundred spellers, ranging from 7 years to 14 years in age. The winners of the competition will receive a cash award of fifty thousand dollars.