After going five rounds without either missing a word, bee pronouncer Jacques Bailly declared them co-champions.
“I think we both knew that the competition was against the dictionary, not each other,” Sriram said afterward. “I’m happy to share this trophy with him”
“I’m really shocked,” Ansun said. “First, I’m going to take rest and then pretend everything’s normal.”
During the final round, Sriram spelled “stichomythia,” which means a dialogue, especially of an altercation. Ansun nailed “feuilleton,” defined as part of a European newspaper devoted to “material designed to entertain the general reader.”
The spelling bee rules dictate that once three contestants are left, the pronouncer begins using a championship list of 25 words. If those words run out before a winner emerges, a tie is declared.
The last time that happened was in 1962, when Nettie Crawford of New Mexico and Michael Day of Missouri were declared co-champions.
Ansun and Sriram may have to share the title, but they won’t have to share the prizes. Each will receive the full winner’s booty — a $30,000 cash prize, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a complete reference library from Merriam-Webster, and $1,200 worth of reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Both said they would “probably” put the money toward college, although Sriram said he would also like to travel a bit.