Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old student and star basketball player from Louisiana, made history Thursday night, July 8, 2021, when she became the first Black American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
With only two spellers left in the competition, Avante-garde, whose first name is pronounced zah-EE-luh, stepped up and clinched the win in the 18th round by correctly spelling “Murraya,” which is defined as “a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.”
After she was declared the winner, Avant-garde raised her hands in the air and twirled around, smiling from ear to ear on the stage at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
It was the smile and twirls for us! After tying for 370th place in 2019, #Speller133 Zaila Avant-garde wins the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Congrats to all of our spellers. We're proud of everyone's poise and courage in facing the dictionary. #SpellingBee #TheBeeIsBack pic.twitter.com/wHfYeU4CNl
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) July 9, 2021
This was only Avante-garde’s second time participating in the national finals, according to Scripps. In 2019, the eighth-grader at Clover Lane Homeschool also competed, sponsored by New Orleans Chapter of The Links.
“Zaila demonstrated incredible mastery of the English language with poise and perseverance,” said Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Co., who presented Avante-garde with the championship trophy. “The excellence of all of our competitors, their hard work and commitment to learning, and their distinct stories, capture hearts and minds across the globe. We take great pride in the way the Scripps National Spelling Bee, like so many of its spellers, adapted through difficult circumstances over the last year to safely bring back America’s favorite and longest-running educational competition.”
Avant-garde was one of 209 national qualifiers this year and advanced through three levels of virtual competition: The preliminaries on June 12, the quarterfinals on June 15 and the semifinals on June 27. She was one of 11 spellers who made it into Thursday night’s final round.
As the new spelling bee champ she will receive a $50,000 cash prize, the commemorative medal and the Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy. She also will take home a $2,500 cash prize and reference library from the bee’s dictionary partner Merriam-Webster, and $400 worth of reference works, including a 1768 Encyclopaedia Britannica Replica Set and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium from Encyclopædia Britannica.
Not only is Avante-garde a champion speller, but the multitalented teen also is a dynamic basketball player and holds three Guinness world records for dribbling, bouncing and juggling basketballs.
Chaitra Thummala of Frisco, Texas, and originally from San Ramon, California, representing Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee, placed second in the competition and will receive $30,000.
Check out the final round and winning moment at the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee on the next page.
