Zaila Avant-garde, a 14 year old girl from luisiana on Thursday became the first African-American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States breaking the 12-year spell of students of Indian descent winning the competition.
Avant who walked away with $ 50,000 managed to beat her competitor Chaitra Thummula from California, who dropped out after being unable to spell “neroli oil” correctly.
Avant-garde scored her victory after spelling the word “murraya”, a genus of tropical Australian trees.
The high-profile Scripps National Spelling Bee is closely followed by students and their parents across the US and the finals are broadcast on prime-time television.
