2009 spelling competition
| 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
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 President Barack Obama greets Kavya Shivashankar, left, the 2009 Scripps Spelling Bee winner, and her family in the Oval Office, June 3, 2010. |
| Date | May 26–29, 2009 |
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| Location | Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, D.C. |
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| Winner | Kavya Shivashankar |
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| Age | 13 |
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| Residence | Olathe, Kansas |
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| Sponsor | The Olathe News |
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| Sponsor location | Olathe, Kansas |
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| Winning word | Laodicean |
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| No. of contestants | 293[1] |
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| Pronouncer | Jacques Bailly |
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| Preceded by | 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee |
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| Followed by | 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
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The 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee took place between May 26–28, 2009 in Washington, D.C.[2]
Competition
There were a record 293 spellers this year (the all-time record until the Bee's rules greatly expanded the field in 2018). 41 spellers made it to the final day of competition on Thursday.[1]
The winner was Kavya Shivashankar.[2] Her winning word was Laodicean.[2] She was sponsored by The Olathe News.[2] She won $35,000 in cash and more than $5,000 in prizes. The runners-up were Aishwarya Pastapur, who misspelled menhir, and Tim Ruiter, who misspelled Maecenas.[3] This was Kavya's fourth appearance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Six of the top ten spellers, including the winner, were Indo-American.
The standings were as follows:[4]
- 1. Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas.
- 2. (tie) Tim A. Ruiter of Centreville, Virginia.
- 2. (tie) Aishwarya Eshwar Pastapur of Springfield, Illinois.
- 4. Kyle M. Mou of Peoria, Illinois.
- 5. (tie) Anamika Veeramani of North Royalton, Ohio
- 5. (tie) Kennyi Kwaku Aouad of Terre Haute, Indiana.
- 5. (tie) Ramya Auroprem of San Jose, California.
- 8. (tie) Neetu Chandak of Seneca Falls, New York.
- 8. (tie) Sidharth Chand of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
- 8. (tie) Serena Skye Laine-Lobsinger of West Palm Beach, Florida.
- 11. Tussah Heera Adi of Las Vegas, Nevada.
TV coverage
The Championship Finals aired live on ABC from 8:00 PM to shortly after 10:00 p.m. EDT and were hosted by Tom Bergeron.
Word list championship round
See also
References
