A 13-year-old took home the crown as Scripps Spelling Bee champion and did it in dramatic fashion spelling one of the competition's challenging words.

Faizan Zaki's winning word was éclaircissement, but the teen from Allen, Texas didn't ask a single question before spelling it correctly, and he pumped his fists and collapsed to the stage after saying the final letter on Thursday night, the Associated Press reported.

What is éclaircissement?

Dig deeper:

Eclaircissement means a clearing up of something obscure, according to Merriam-Webster.com .

Who is Faizan Zaki?

The backstory:

Faizan has been spelling for most of his life. He competed in the 2019 bee as a 7-year-old, getting in through a wild-card program. He qualified again in 2023 and made the semifinals.

The Associated

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