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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Bryan Armen Graham

Texas teenager Faizan Zaki wins National Spelling Bee after dramatic blunder – as it happened

Faizan Zaki, 13, of Dallas, Texas, reacts as he wins the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Faizan Zaki, 13, of Dallas, Texas, reacts as he wins the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to read the full report here.

History has been made outside the nation’s capital. In 96 previous National Spelling Bees going back a century, only four runners-up went on to win the title. And only one of those had managed it in the past 44 years, when Sean Conley won it all in 2001 after finishing second the year before. Faizan Zaki has just become the fifth.

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