Winner for Scripps National Spelling Bee to be announced after finals air Thursday night

A winner in the long-anticipated Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals is set to be announced later on Thursday. The contest, hosted by LeVar Burton, began with 234 student spellers from across the United States and around the globe and had them competing for the chance to be the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

The time finally came on Thursday night as the 12 remaining student speller finalists faced a plethora of the dictionary's most perplexing words as they battled to be the reigning champion of the 94th Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.

As the New York Times reported, the finalists were between the ages of 11 and 14 and had to face the other champions through some grueling hours of nail-biting spelling and anticipation to see who would come out as the winner.

Thirteen-year-old Surya Kapu of South Jordan, Utah, misspelled “leucovorin” during Wednesday night's last semifinal round but was able to be reinstated after successfully appealing after he said he was denied root information that was relevant to understanding the word.

Roy Seligman and Vivinsha Veduru, who tied for fourth place in last year's bee, were eliminated without spelling a word incorrectly, but were removed from the competition as judges cited other rules, the Associated Press reported.

The contestants compete for a $50,000 cash prize and the competition is held just outside of Washington, D.C. in National Harbor, Maryland.

Last year's winner, then-8th grader Zaila Avant-garde from Louisiana, spelled the word "murraya," which helped nab her the title of Scripps National Spelling Bee champion for 2021.