By: June He

On May 30, a seventh grader living at Tampa, Florida became the 2024 Scripp National Spelling Bee champion. Bruht Soma, 12, won a lighting playoff round by spelling 29 words right in 90 sec, the winning word was “abseil”. It’s a word used in the sport of mountaineering.

This was Bruhat’s 3rd appearance in the spelling bee. In 2022, he tied for 163rd place while last year, he came in 7th place.

Bruhat told NPR that he felt excited about his victory. “I’ve been working really hard, so I just put a lot of time into spelling,” said Bruhat.”I’m really happy that I won, like I don’t know how to describe it. I’m still shaking,”he added.

Bruhat’s spelling coach is a 16-year-old speller named Sam Evans. Sam coached three of the top four finishers. He told the press that Bruhat had indeed put in a lot of effort “I’m very happy that I could use my experience to help him, but at the end of the day, it’s all about his hard work and his dedication.”

Bruhat’s prize was over 50,000 dollars, reference materials, and a trophy. The trophy was presented to him by Adam Symson, president and CEO of Scripps. In a press release, Symson said that “Bruhat impressed with his display of knowledge and composure.”