Shrey Parikh, From Underdog to Spelling Bee Champion

“The spell-off results are in,” Jacques Bailly, the official pronouncer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, said with a soft smile on his face. Ishaan Gupta, 12, and Shrey Parikh, 14, had just finished a whirlwind round, where each was tasked with spelling as many words as they could in 90 seconds — from “torrone” (an Italian nougat) to “cywyddau” (the plural of cywydd, a Welsh poetry form). “Shrey, during the spell-off, you correctly spelled a total of 32 words. Ishaan, you correctly spelled a total of 25 words — and that means, Shrey, you are the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion! Congratulations!”

The crowd roared. The confetti flew. The trophy came out, which Shrey Parikh held above his head. He had just won the 98th edition of the national spelling bee, including $50,000 in cash and a trip to Universal Studios. But most spellers (myself included) would tell you it’s not about the prize. When the CEO of Scripps asked Shrey what it felt like to pull off the win, he was calm and collected, as he was for most of the competition. “It’s not something I explicitly practiced for a lot,” he admitted. “Spelling fast is what I do every day. A spell-off kind of came naturally. It was just another day of spelling for me.”

But behind those words are hours, nay years, of relentless hard work, a “work ethic” that has impressed even his dad, cardiologist Dr. Gaurav Parikh, as he told The Juggernaut. Of the past 18 spelling bees, 17 have had Indian-origin winners. Outsiders have long noticed this trend. Yet, behind those stats, Shrey’s just a teen who loves The Goonies, tennis, and has also overcome some devastating setbacks. For those in the know, it’s this resilience that likely fueled this inevitable moment, much more so than his background.