(May 30, 2026) Fourteen-year-old Shrey Parikh of Rancho Cucamonga, California, had just won the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the latest Indian-American contestant to claim the prestigious title in a competition long marked by the community’s remarkable dominance. Shrey became the 31st champion with Indian heritage, a run that began with Nupur Lala’s victory in 1999. What has made the victory stand out, however, was not just the result, but the road back to it.
A year earlier, he did not even qualify
In 2025, Shrey did not make it to the national stage at all. A misspelt word at his school-level bee, the very first step in the qualification process, ended his campaign before it properly began. The eighth grader attends Day Creek Intermediate School in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
For a contestant who had finished tied for third nationally in 2024, the early exit was particularly difficult to process. “The next day was really tough,” he said after winning the competition, recalling the disappointment that followed. At one point, he seriously considered stepping away from spelling altogether. Instead, he returned with greater resolve.
Five hours of preparation every day
Over the following year, Shrey committed himself to an intense preparation schedule that involved up to five hours of study a day. He trained under Sam Evans, the coach behind each of the previous three national champions, and also worked with former co-champion Sohum Sukhatankar, who shared the Scripps title in 2019.
The sessions extended well beyond memorising words. They included advanced vocabulary drills, simulated pressure rounds and practice spell-offs designed to replicate the pace and stress of national competition. “My amazing community really motivated me and pushed me to become better,” Parikh said, crediting the support system around him through what became a year of rebuilding.
By the time the competition reached its final rounds at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C., hosting the Scripps Bee for the first time in 15 years, Shrey looked composed among a field of 247 contestants aged between nine and fifteen.
A record-setting spell-off
The championship eventually came down to a spell-off against 12-year-old finalist Ishaan Gupta, a rapid-fire tiebreaker in which contestants are given 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible.
Shrey delivered a record-setting performance. He correctly spelled 32 words in the allotted time, the highest total ever recorded in a Scripps spell-off. Ishaan finished with an impressive 25.
The victory earned Shrey the Scripps Cup, a Merriam-Webster reference library and prize money of $52,500.Before the tiebreaker began, he said he took a brief moment to steady himself. “I kind of accepted the fact that there was going to be a spell-off, and I just tried to take it all in stride and do the best I could,” he said.
Trusting instinct under pressure
Shrey has spoken openly about the nerves that accompany high-level competition and the mental shift that occurs once a word is announced. “Once I get the word, it’s all in my control,” he said, describing how he trained himself to move from uncertainty to concentration within seconds.
That mindset carried him through the finals, especially during moments when instinct mattered as much as preparation. “I was so nervous for every word, but I just reminded myself that I needed to trust my instincts,” he said.
Beyond spelling
Shrey’s achievements this year were not limited to language competitions. He also qualified for the California state Mathcounts competition, reflecting a wider academic range beyond spelling alone.
For now, though, it is one evening in Washington that defines his year. Twelve months after failing to advance beyond the first qualifying stage, Shrey Parikh returned to the national stage and emerged as champion in the latest chapter in a competition where Indian-American contestants have continued to leave a defining mark.
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