Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion: Indian-origin teenager Shrey Parikh has won the United States’ biggest and oldest educational competition, the Scripps National Spelling Bee, with a nail-biting tie-breaker against another finalist, Ishaan Gupta, in a lightning round. The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, put the win in the books with a clutch performance in the final on Thursday night. Shrey was widely regarded as one of the favourites leading up to the competition and didn’t disappoint in the final 90-second spell-off, international news agency Associated Press said. He spelt 32 words correctly, ahead of Ishaan, who spelt 25 words correctly in Washington DC.
Shrey Parikh is your 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion!!!
Congrats to Shrey, who won after a dramatic spell-off. pic.twitter.com/W0sJuomC3X
— Scripps News (@scrippsnews) May 29, 2026
Who is Shrey Parikh?
In 2024, Shrey had come third in the competition, and in the previous year, he lost his school spelling bee due to a fever and had to settle for third place. He has since emerged as one of the best young spellers in the U.S. and has competed in a number of online spelling competitions with many of the same kids he had to compete against this week.
Except for spelling, Shrey enjoys a variety of hobbies such as Tennis, reading, mathematics, and Chess. He is also a percussionist in his school band and plays instruments like snare drum, bass drum, timpani, toms, triangle, glockenspiel and marimba. He also likes to travel to India and spend time with his grandparents.
A moment he’ll never forget 🥹
Eighth grader Shrey Parikh learns he beat Ishaan Gupta in a spell-off to win the 2026 @ScrippsBee 🐝🏆🎉 | #SpellingBee pic.twitter.com/RbTMKBaWbn
— Events DC (@TheEventsDC) May 29, 2026
How Indians dominated Scripps National Spelling Bee for 3 decades
Contestants belonging to the Indian community have emerged as strong competitors in the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past 30 years. In the past 36 years, those of Indian origin have won the coveted contest 30 times.
The first champion of Indian origin was Balu Natarajan, who spelt the word “milieu” in 1985 to emerge victorious. The Indian-American speller has been winning the championship consistently ever since, particularly after 1999.
Some of the recent winners include Faizan Zaki, Harini Logan, and Shrey Parikh, who won the 2026 championship after spelling 32 words in just 90 seconds. Conducted annually since 1925, the 2026 event comprised 247 participants who hailed from all over the world, including the United States.
With 13 years on the line, Ashish Kumar Singh loves everything when it comes to movies, music, travel and pop culture. Formerly employed at ANI, Pinkvilla, India Today and HT, Ashish has interviewed some of the top celebrities of India, including Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan, among others. Breaking news excites him and deadlines are what he chases. Interviewing comes naturally to him. Hit him up at ashish.kumar02singh@gmail.com.
