Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from Louisiana, has become the first black American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The finals were held in Florida on Thursday night (July 8) and 11 kids competed in the round after advancing from virtual rounds.
Zaila is now the first African-American to win the competition in the Spelling Bee’s 93-year history. She’s also the first Louisiana resident to win and only the second Black student to win. Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica became the first Black winner back in 1998.
Click inside to find out the winning word…
The winning word in the final round was “Murraya,” which is “a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees (family Rutaceae) having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.”
Zaila is a basketball prodigy who has three Guinness World Records for her ability to dribble multiple basketballs at the same time. Her goal is to play in the WNBA one day!
13-year-old Zaila Avant-garde of Louisiana is your 93rd Scripps National #SpellingBee champion ‼️
The first African-American winner of the competition ???? pic.twitter.com/y2Y5dAGcVN
— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2021
