Jenna Boures
Staff Writer Stalemates are few and far between when it comes to sports and competitive events, so it’s always interesting to see one happen live.
On Thursday night the Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned both Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe as victors, making it the first tie in 52 years as reported by ESPN.
The unusual outcome was due to the boys each spelling a word incorrectly back-to-back, allowing them both to remain in the contest.
Hathwar faltered while spelling “corpsbruder” (a close comrade), while Sujoe failed to correctly spell “antigropelos” (waterproof leggings).
After their dual blunders, the boys proved to be strong competitors, correctly spelling the last 25 words of the competition, including: skandhas, feijoada,
augenphilologie, thyemelici and paixtle. Although Hathwar and Sujoe have to share the title of Spelling Bee Champion, each will receive a trophy and $33,000 in cash and prizes.
“The competition was against the dictionary, not against each other,” said Sriram. “I’m happy to share this trophy with him.”
The pair is now the fourth duo to split the win at the National Spelling Bee in its 89 years. The last stalemate took place in 1962.
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