OXON HILL, Md. – Winning is all Bruhat Soma can do.
Soma entered the 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee with the experience of having already won three smaller spelling bees in 2024. The 12-year-old from St. Petersburg, Fla., won the grand prize on Thursday after beating Faizan Zaki, also 12, in a spelling showdown.
“When I found out I won, my heart was beating like crazy,” Soma said. “I had a feeling I was going to win because I was doing pretty well, but yeah, you never know what’s going to happen. I just couldn’t accept the moment yet.”
The national championships featured 14 rounds over three days, with organisers calling for a spelling-off to decide the winner, with Soma correctly spelling 29 words in 90 seconds, beating Zaki who got 20 words right.
SoMa spelling coach Sam Evans said they have three spelling-offs for every hour of practice.
“He’s obviously very good,” Evans told USA Today. “I wasn’t surprised by his performance tonight.”
Soma was ready for the spelling off, and was calm on stage. Soma said her father used a program every day to mimic the spelling off and sound out words in 90 seconds.
“I really wanted all of this,” Soma said, “but I never expected it.”
The spelling off was introduced in 2021 and was used for the first time (and until Thursday, only time) in the 2022 competition. That year, Harini Logan spelled 22 words correctly to win the title.
The 2024 National Finals began with 245 spellers from all 50 states and around the world. Ninety-seven spellers were eliminated in the preliminary rounds on Tuesday, and 45 advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday. Only eight spellers made it to the finals, a smaller field than usual.
With his victory, Soma will receive more than $50,000 in prize money in addition to other prizes.
Two finalists were eliminated during the first spelling round on Thursday. The remaining six breezed through the subsequent vocabulary rounds. Starting in 2019, the Bee began having contestants choose the correct definition onstage, which made it more difficult for the finalists and resulted in more eliminations.
Kirsten Santos, who placed fifth in 2022, came sixth this time but missed one letter in “apophasis.” The top five advanced to the fourth round of spelling, where Aditi Muthukumar failed to pronounce “lillooet” correctly.
Then, towards the end of Bee’s airtime, Shrey Parikh and Ananya Prassanna were dropped and replacements began.
Who is Burhat Soma? The 2024 National Spelling Bee winner “knew all my words”
For Soma, winning the Bee Contest has been his goal since he was in the third grade of elementary school. After losing in the quarterfinals last year, he resolved to “give it his all” for the 2024 Bee Contest in order to make up for his poor performance.
“I’m so excited,” he said onstage, confetti falling at his feet and the Scripps Cup next to him.
When asked what the most difficult vocabulary words were that he had taken this week, he replied, “To be honest with you, I knew all my vocabulary words, so I don’t really know.”
To pronounce the spellings out loud, Soma employs a strategy of “typing” on an imaginary keyboard with his left hand. He strategically chose and memorized the sections of the Bee he thought he would hear most often.
“He has a really good memory, which definitely helps him with spelling,” Evans said.
“I don’t know the whole dictionary,” Soma said, “or even close.”
Still, anyone can devote days or weeks to practicing spelling, Evans said. But Soma’s dedication was different.
“His consistency throughout the year and the way he works toward his goals is what makes him really special,” said Evans, a 16-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., who will be a high school senior in the fall. “For him to be standing on that stage with a trophy is really a testament to his work ethic.”
Soma also loves basketball, so you can bet he’ll be spending more time watching and playing the game.
“I haven’t been able to keep up with basketball this year because of spelling,” he said. “Basketball is like a secondary passion of mine.”
What was the winning word of the 2024 spelling bee?
In a spelling contest, there is no official winning word. After Soma correctly spells “daena”, Zaki spells “nicuri” to force a spelling contest.
Zaki asked for a moment to take a deep breath before starting his 90-second run.
Zaki is one of Soma’s closest friends at the spelling bee, and the two embraced before lead speller Dr. Jack Baillie read out the results of the spelling bee.
“Congratulations to him, he’s done a great job,” Soma said.
