Harini, one of the most well-known spellers in the bee, was a crowd favorite for her positivity and poise. She won more than $50,000 in cash prizes.
Oxon Hill: Harini was once eliminated from Scripps National Spelling Bee, but she was then reinstated. In a brutal standoff against Vikramraju, she missed four words, one of which would have awarded her the title.
Harini won the trophy in the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker. Vikram, Vikram’s eighth-grader from San Antonio, Texas, was defeated by Harini, an eighth-grader who had competed in the last fully-in-person bee three years ago.
Harini is a well-known speller who enters the bee. She is also a crowd favorite for her positivity and poise. Harini, perhaps the greatest champion ever to have had more final round flubs than Harini, was just as deserving.
Grace Walters is currently coaching her as the fifth Scripps champion. Grace Walters is a former speller and fellow Texan, who is also a Rice University student and is looking at quitting the coaching business. She will leave on top if she does.
Harini, who defined “pullulation” to mean the nesting of mating bird-eating birds, was the key moment in the much-debated bee’s multiple-choice vocabulary round. Scripps stated that the correct answer was the “swarming” of bees.
Harini, who defined “pullulation” to mean the nesting of mating bird-eating birds, was the key moment in the much-debated bee’s multiple-choice vocabulary round. Scripps stated that the correct answer was the “swarming” of bees.
Harini won the semifinals against Vikram. Each of them correctly spelled two words. Scripps then revealed the most difficult words of the evening.
Both misspelled. Vikram again missed the mark and Harini got it “search” wrong, taking one word off her title. She got the word “Drimys” wrong.
There were two more rounds. Each finalist missed two words. Scripps then brought out the podium, buzzer, and microphone for the lightning round, which all finalists had practiced in the small ballroom hours before.
By correctly spelling 22 words in the Spell-off, the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion is #Speller231 Harini Logan! #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/pl0NTznYVr
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 3, 2022
Harini was quicker and sharper throughout the competition, and the judges confirmed her victory.
The eight-way tie was achieved in the last fully in-person bee. There was no tiebreaker. The pandemic caused the 2020 bee to be canceled. In 2021, it was mostly virtual with only 11 finalists meeting in Florida. Zaila Avantgarde, the first Black American champion, was elected as the winner.
This year, the changes continued with Scripps ending its partnership with ESPN and producing its telecast with LeVar Burton, actor and literacy advocate. It was difficult to transition with uneven commercial breaks and audio glitches that revealed the inner workings to the audience.
Due to sponsors dropping out and the ending of the wild-card program, the bee was smaller in 2019. The semifinals saw several surprises in the eliminations, as spellers were required to live answer vocabulary questions on stage.
The biggest shock was Harini’s bowing on a vocabulary word. She was then back on the stage and, in the end, was still there.