Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, won the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, defeating Ishaan Gupta in a lightning-round spell-off. - Shrey spelled 32 words correctly in 90 seconds, a record for the tiebreaker format introduced in 2022.
- He finished third in 2024 but missed the 2025 bee after a shocking early exit at his school bee due to illness. - Shrey is the 31st champion of Indian heritage in the last 37 years, continuing a trend that began in 1999.
- The spell-off remains controversial among purists, but Shrey's victory was decisive and well-deserved.