Shrey Parikh is the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion after clinching victory in a spell-off.
In the spell-off, the final two competitors had 90 seconds to correctly spell as many words as possible. Parikh spelled 32 words correctly in the rapid-fire round, while runner-up Ishaan Gupta spelled 25.
The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, earned $52,500, the coveted Scripps Cup and a Merriam-Webster reference library.
Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
This was not Parikh’s first trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He tied for 89th place in 2022 and finished tied for third in 2024.
Gupta, 12, also improved on his previous appearance at the national competition. He finished tied for 20th place in 2025.
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Sarv Dharavane placed third for the second consecutive year.
This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee featured 247 spellers ranging in age from 9 to 15.
The competition was held at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., for the first time in 15 years.
