[Source: Reuters]

Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in a spell-off, correctly ​spelling 32 words rapid-fire over 90 seconds to claim the $50,000 ‌cash prize.

He defeated Ishaan Gupta, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Jersey City, New Jersey, who got 25 words correct from the same list, after having been sequestered during Shrey’s ​turn.

Both advanced to the dramatic finale in the televised competition after ​they survived 18 rounds without misspelling a word on the ⁠final day.

The eliminatory spell-off was introduced in 2021 after the ​2019 competition ended with eight co-champions who kept spelling words correctly.

Event organizers said ​Shrey’s winning word, from a long list of obscure selections, was “bromocriptine,” which is “a polypeptide alkaloid that is a derivative of ergot and mimics the activity of dopamine,” according to ​the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

He advanced to the spell-off by nailing Philepitta, ​a genus of Madagascan birds, while Ishaan matched him in the 18th round with Ertebolle – ‌of ⁠or belonging to an Early Neolithic or Late Mesolithic culture in the Baltic region.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is one of the most well-known academic competitions in the U.S., tracing its origins to 1925, when the Louisville ​Courier-Journal newspaper invited ​students to participate ⁠in a national spelling contest.

Over the decades, the spelling bee has evolved into a highly competitive event that ​draws hundreds of participants from across the U.S. and around ​the ⁠world.

Contestants qualify through a series of local and regional bees, spelling complex and obscure words, sometimes piecing together previously unknown words after learning the language of ⁠origin, ​pronunciation and definition.

Some 247 finalists, all aged 15 ​or younger, competed in the televised national competition over three days at the DAR Constitution ​Hall in Washington.