NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Oxion Hill, Maryland, May 30, 2025: Faizan Zaki, 13, from Allen, Texas, was crowned the champion of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling the winning word, “éclaircissement,” during the final round of the competition on Thursday night.
Faizan, who finished second in last year’s bee, made a strong comeback to win this year’s title. His victory was even more impressive because he had a close call in round 18 when he nearly misspelled the word “commelina.” But he stayed calm and kept spelling correctly through the next few rounds, while other finalists stumbled.
As the champion, Faizan took home the top prize of $50,000. With this win, he became only the fifth person in the competition’s history to come back as a runner-up and later win the championship. Including his earnings from last year, Faizan has now won a total of $77,500. He says he plans to donate much of the money to charity.
The competition, which celebrated its 100th year in 2025, brought together 243 spellers between the ages of 8 and 14 from across the United States and a few other countries. The event is known for its high-pressure rounds and tricky words.
Faizan’s win also continues a long-standing trend of Indian American success at the spelling bee—30 of the last 36 champions have been of Indian heritage.
After the competition, Faizan said he was both excited and a little shaken by his near miss, joking that he might have nightmares about it. But in the end, he said he was thrilled to finally win the trophy he had worked so hard for.
Photo credit: SpellingBee.com
