Indian-origin teenager Shrey Parikh has achieved what millions of young spellers dream of. The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California won the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. He defeated runner-up Ishan Gupta in a dramatic spell-off final. During the tie-breaker, Parikh spelled 32 words correctly in just 90 seconds. The performance set a new spell-off record and secured its place in the competition’s 101-year history. The win was particularly significant as it was Parikh’s third appearance at the national competition, completing a journey that saw him finish 89th in 2022 and third in 2024 before ultimately claiming the championship.

Credit Parikh’s spelling journey to win America’s largest spelling contest

Shrey Parikh is a 14-year-old Indian-American student currently enrolled in eighth grade at Day Creek Intermediate School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, sponsored by the San Bernardino County School Superintendent. Rather than being a one-dimensional academic, Shrey is known to be a well-rounded individual with rich interests. He is an accomplished musician, playing a remarkable variety of instruments including snare drum, bass drum, timpani, toms, break drum, triangle, glockenspiel, marimba, piano and ukulele.He is also multilingual. From a young age, Shrey has spoken several languages, including three Indian dialects, reflecting his deep Indian heritage. His principal at John L. Golden Elementary School, where Shrey studied before moving on, described him as “accomplished in all subjects”.Shreya’s relationship with competitive spelling began remarkably early. John L. in Rancho Cucamonga. As a fourth grader at Golden Elementary School, he won the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Spelling Bee, earning him a spot in the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee, his first appearance on the national stage. He finished 89th that year, which was a solid start for such a young student.In 2024, Shreya made a comeback and finished third with Bruhat Mon Won the championship and Faizan Zaki finished second. Shreya earned $12,500 in prize money. That result indicated that he was firmly one of the elite young magicians in the country.Then there was a tremendous shock. Shrey had missed his school last year when he was battling fever and failed to fully qualify for the national competition. This was a severe blow. He took six months off from spelling before reopening his Merriam-Webster dictionary.With 2026 being her final year of eligibility, and contestants must not have graduated beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15, Shrey approached the season with all-or-nothing intensity. His coaching team included Sam Evanswho has coached each of the last three champions; Soham Sukhatankar, himself co-champion in 2019; and Vijaya Ganesh, a longtime coach and mother of a former speller.The 14-year-old works with three instructors, pays for word lists and study guides, and tries to learn every Greek and Latin root, every language pattern, and every spellable word he can find. He also competes in online bees throughout the year which pits him against other top spellers in the country. Shrey said she practiced five hours a day to prepare for the spelling bee.He arrived in Washington as one of the clear favorites and he did not disappoint.

2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee: The Night in Details

The 2026 event featured 247 participants from the United States and its territories. After two preliminary rounds, the field was narrowed down to eight finalists for the Thursday night showdown at the DAR Constitution Hall.The slim Shreyas, dressed in a business-casual look with a dark long-sleeved collared shirt, khakis and sneakers, walked to the microphone with a serious expression, which quickly disappeared when he heard his words from announcer Jacques Bailey and nodded vigorously, saying he knew the answer.The alarm bell did not ring until the third round, in which four contestants were eliminated within a matter of minutes. By the end of the seventh round, only Parikh and Gupta were left. When both successfully uttered their words in the next round, the spell began.

Enchantment: 90 seconds, 32 words, a record broken

The spell-off format introduced in 2021 is as exciting as it is brutal. Each speller had 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible. As one participant competed, the other was wearing headphones, unable to hear the words being read.The credit was extraordinary. Parikh spelled 32 words correctly out of 35 she attempted in 90 seconds to win the title and broke the previous spell-off record set in 2024 by Bruhat Soma, who spelled 29 words correctly out of 30. Parikh crushed 32 words to Gupta’s 25, and finished on “kasha”, a type of plant, and set a new spell-casting record.This was only the third time the Spell-Off had decided a spelling bee since the format began. Harini Logan won the first spell-off in 2022 with 22 words spelled in 90 seconds, while Bruhat Soma won in 2024 with 29.Scripps later announced that the championship word was “bromocriptine”, a polypeptide alkaloid derived from ergot that mimics the activity of dopamine.

The word that tested him the most

With all his patience, one word paused the credits during the final: “Bhubaneswar”, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha.He said, “I was 99% sure it had a ‘B’ in it, but doubt always lingers in the back of your mind, especially at that time.” “I knew I just had to stick to my guts and my instincts on that word.”He wrote it correctly and moved on.

Their reaction: joy, relief and liberation

After the win, Shrey said, “Right now I am probably the happiest I have ever been. I am feeling very happy and relieved and just a flood of emotions.”“Last year at my school, I was really depressed and very upset. It didn’t even sink in until the next day. I had a really hard time, but I’m glad I was able to bounce back.”On the spell-off itself, the credits were remarkably quiet.“Spelling fast is what I do every day,” he said, holding up a Scripps cup. “An enchantment came naturally.”He described the final round as feeling like “just another day of spelling”.On hearing the announcement confirming his victory, Shrey immediately turned and shook hands with Gupta.

Awards and recognition

As the 2026 champion, Shreya achieved an impressive feat. He received $52,500 in prize money along with reference works from Encyclopædia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, a custom trophy and commemorative medal, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.He also conducted a meet and greet with an astronaut at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. A trip to Universal Orlando Resort theme park completes the prize package.Although this was the 98th bee, Shrey became the 111th champion as the competition has produced multiple co-champions over the years, including an eight-way tie in 2019.

A historic tradition of Indian-origin champions

Sreya’s win continues a remarkable trend of excellent performance by Indian-American students at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.Recent champions of Indian origin include Faizan Zaki (2025), Bruhat Soma (2024), Dev Shah (2023) and Harini Logan (2022), among many others. Notably, runner-up Ishaan Gupta is also of Indian origin, meaning both finalists this year have roots in the Indian subcontinent.For the first time in Bees history, the second and third place players in the same year won the championship. Faizan Zaki won in 2025 after finishing second in 2024, while Shrey Parikh won in 2026 after finishing third in the same year.

more than a speller

What makes Shrey Parikh’s story fascinating is not just the trophy. It’s the resilience, the fever that caused him to lose his chance to qualify, the months away from the spell and the determination to come back stronger. It’s the discipline of five hours of daily practice and a coaching team assembled for one final shot at glory.It’s also the calmness of the teenager who broke a national record and then described the achievement as “just another day of spelling”.As the 111th Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, Shrey Parikh is already a part of American educational history. However, for a 14-year-old boy who once walked away from school crying, this moment represents something even bigger. It’s a testament to what can happen when talent meets persistence.