Ananya Vinay, a 12-year-old sixth grader from Fresno, California, won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 2, 2017. She clinched the title in round 36 by spelling marocain, a type of dress fabric. Vinay represented The Fresno Bee and attended Fugman Elementary School.
Who is Ananya Vinay?
At the time of the 2017 Bee, Vinay was a sixth grader at Fugman Elementary School in Fresno, California. She competed as a representative of The Fresno Bee. The event’s organizer, The E.W. Scripps Company, announced her victory on June 2, 2017. Scripps’s announcement identifies her age, grade, hometown, school, sponsor and result.
How Vinay won the spelling bee
The 2017 competition began with 291 spellers, according to Scripps. Vinay won the championship in round 36, correctly spelling marocain.
The final matchup
Vinay’s win came after a prolonged head-to-head contest with 14-year-old Rohan Rajeev. Scripps’s champion profile describes 19 rounds of spelling between the two finalists. That figure refers to their head-to-head segment, not the full competition’s 36-round count.
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What does “marocain” mean?
Scripps defined marocain in its 2017 announcement as “a dress fabric that is made with a warp of silk or rayon and a filling of other yarns and is similar to but heavier than canton crepe.” The word’s spelling gave Vinay the title in round 36.
Vinay’s interest in words
In her official champion profile, Vinay explained what she liked about language: “I like finding stories behind words, investigating them further.” The profile also says she enjoyed volunteering, mythology and adventure stories, and hoped to become a doctor, scientist or writer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The significance of the 2017 win
Scripps described the competitors as among the top 0.000026 percent of more than 11 million students who took part in classroom, school and locally sponsored spelling bees around the country. That statistic is the organizer’s characterization of the 2017 competition.
For the 2017 championship, Scripps listed a $40,000 cash prize for the winner. Its announcement also listed awards from Merriam-Webster, including a $2,500 U.S. savings bond, alongside a trophy and other reference and reading prizes. These were the awards described for that year’s event.
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