For the third straight year, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has co-champions, as 11-year-old Nihar Janga and 13-year-old Jairam Hathwar beatout the final eight other spellers on Thursday night in National Harbor, Maryland.ESPN showed the two brilliant spellers receiving their trophy: Here are the final results from Thursday's final round:Sure, there were millions of eyes across the country and around the world watching these young spellers, but they weren't feeling the pressure, as the spelling bee's official account showed:Some of the assigned words came from the furthest reaches of the dictionarylike "pneumatomachy" and "hypozeuxis"yet the spellers were up to the task.The Associated Press' Ben Nuckols was reveling in the impressive displays of spelling:It was puzzling actor Jeremy Jordan:Mitchell Robson, a 14-year-old from Massachusetts, provided plenty of spunk with his pleas to the judges, via Steph Solis of USA Today:The word was "esquisse," and he indeed spelled it correctly.This wasn't the only time he was gaining fans for his on-stage presence, as SportsCenter showed:In fact, all the spellers had the opportunity to take part in today's most popular fads, via Atlanta radio host Ashley Holcomb:Slowly but surely the field diminished to the final four, which included three 13-year-olds and one 11-year-old, Janga.Janga, who is nicknamed "The Machine," was winning over the fans with his effortless spelling, including magician David Kwong:After SylvieLamontagne's valiant efforts to spell "chaoborine" fell short, the championship format kicked in. There were 25 rounds to try to whittle down the remaining three spellers, and if there was more than one speller standing after the 24th round, there would be co-champions.The difficulty of the words increased, which was hard to believe given how tough it had already been on the contestants.Snehaa Ganesh Kumar was unable to spell "usucapion," though she did a wonderful job deciphering that the word began with a "U" instead of an "E." She was eliminated whenHathwar reeled off "gelandesprung."Then Janga and Hathwarthe final twodueled it out, spelling brilliantly and leaving viewers in awe of their prowess.Sometimes the words seemed impossible, such as "appetitost," a wordJanga received. He asked, "Is this a kind of cheese'" Dr. Jacques Bailly's answer confirmed his hunch, and with that, he was on his way.He did it again with the word "biniou" after inquiring if it was a type of bagpipe. With his spelling of "taoiseach," a prime minister of Ireland,he received a healthy ovation from the crowd.Rap artist Lil Wayne was amazed:After 20 consecutive words spelled correctly, Hathwar missed "drahthaar." It was so closehe just put an "A" where the first "H" should be.Janga had to spell two more words correctly but only got one. He got "rafraichissoir," but "ayacahuite" tripped him up, giving Hathwar new life.In the 22nd championship round, Hathwar once again was off by just one letter on "Mischsprache," giving Janga another chance for the title. But he couldn't get "tetradrachm" in his next attempt, leaving out the cruel, silent "ch."If both spelled their words correctly in the 24th round, they would be co-champions. Hathwar effortlessly got "Feldenkrais," while Janga nailed "gesellschaft."Upon spelling the last word correctly, Janga impersonated his favorite athlete, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, by throwing up his patented "X" with his arms, much to the delight of the NFL star:Given their amazing performances Thursday night, it was only fitting the two were named winners.They will each receive $40,000 along with a$2,500 savings bond and a complete reference library from Merriam-Webster,$400 of reference works fromEncyclopedia Britannica and atrip to New York City for an appearance onLive with Kelly.While there were some words that made viewers question the English language, there's no disputing that these spellers are some of the most knowledgeable young minds on the planet.
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