Scripps Spelling Bee 2015 results: Co-champions prevail for 2nd straight year

The 2015 Scripps Spelling Bee ended in dramatic fashion when both Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashankar emerged as co-champions in the 88th Scripps Spelling Bee. In 2014, Ansun Sujoe and Sriram Hathwar each took home the trophy, making this the second straight year two spellers were victorious.

Gokul, who hails from Chesterfield, Mo., spelled the final word, “nunatak,” to cap a flawless performance by two incredible youths on Thursday.

Although it’s anticlimactic, a tie is possible in a few different scenarios. Last year, both finalists misspelled a word in the same round and were each awarded the victory. This time around, Vanya and Gokul never missed a letter among the final 25-word list.

The eighth graders were the final two among 10 competitors in the final round of the event in Washington, D.C. Each was unflappable in the final rounds, not succumbing to increasingly difficult words such as “urgrund,” “cypseline,” “tantieme,” “myrmotherine” and “sprachgefühl.”

It’s only fitting that a LeBron James superfan came out on top. Gokul, who finished third last year, was notably calm. None of the words seemed to give him any trouble whatsoever. Unlike his fellow champion, he didn’t use any visual cues as he seamlessly spelled out every word presented. He didn’t even bother asking for a definition of the final word.

His opponent was equally confident, yet humble after the win.

“This is a dream come true,” said Vanya, an Olathe, Kan., native. “I can’t believe I’m up here. I’ve wanted this for such a long time.” Vanya’s final word was “scherenschnitte.”

Vanya’s sister, Kavya, won the event in 2009 by correctly spelling “Laodicean.”

“Just a combination of all the hard work I’ve put into the past six years,” said Gokul. “I’m finally happy to have success.”

Prior to 2014, the last time there were co-champions was in 1962 when Nettie Crawford and Michael Day spelled “esquamulose” correctly.