--- title: Scripps Spelling Bee 2015 Winners: Co-Champions, Again description: The winning words in the nail-biter final were 'scherenschnitte' and 'nunatak' canonical: https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-29T03:02:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:30.791Z og:title: The Scripps National Spelling Bee Ends in a Tie Again og:description: The winning words in the nail-biter final were 'scherenschnitte' and 'nunatak' og:url: https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1736352c7808177/6988522a524fc09c1adf2da7/rtr4xxuy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, St. Louis Missouri lift the trophy after becoming co-champions after the final round of the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Scripps National Spelling Bee Ends in a Tie Again twitter:description: The winning words in the nail-biter final were 'scherenschnitte' and 'nunatak' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1736352c7808177/6988522a524fc09c1adf2da7/rtr4xxuy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Scripps National Spelling Bee Has Co-Champions, Again ## Video: National Spelling Bee: Can You Compete? [Watch (HLS stream): National Spelling Bee: Can You Compete?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dsFwYIQm.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2013-04-10. Starting this year, kids in the Scripps National Spelling Bee will have to define words as well as spell them. Can you define these Bee winning words?_ by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz May 29, 2015 3:02 AM UTC  Vanya Shivashankar, left, and Gokul Venkatachalam lift the trophy after becoming co-champions after the final round of the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor, Md., on May 28, 2015 Vanya Shivashankar, left, and Gokul Venkatachalam lift the trophy after becoming co-champions after the final round of the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor, Md., on May 28, 2015Joshua Roberts—Reuters by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz May 29, 2015 3:02 AM UTC In a dramatic, flawless final round, two eighth-graders proved to be joint winners at the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee. One a girl and one a boy, one from Kansas and one from Missouri, one a five-time finalist and one a four-timer, 13-year-old Vanya Shivashankar and 14-year-old Gokul Venkatachalam put both their hands on the trophy and thrust it into the air on Thursday evening—after spelling word after word that few people could even hope to pronounce correctly. Shivashankar’s winning word was _scherenschnitte,_ meaning the art of cutting paper into decorative designs. Venkatachalam’s was _nunatak,_ a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice. This is the second year in a row that the final has yielded co-champions. Last year was the first time in 52 years that two people had shared the trophy, and 2015 marks the first time in the bee’s 90-year history that there have ever been co-champions two years in a row. This is only the fifth tie ever. How do two people win the bee? If three or fewer spellers are left when a round begins, the officials move to a 25-word “championship list.” As Scripps [explained](http://spellingbee.com/bee-blog/bee/ansun-sriram-first-co-champions-52-years) last year: --- > “” --- In the last minutes of the final, Shivashankar and Venkatachalam navigated—and sometimes breezed—through the championship words with poise, like tennis players returning near-impossible shots. And the announcers from ESPN, which broadcasts the competition held in National Harbor, Md., each year, espoused due color commentary. Shivashankar started with _bouquetiere_. “If they do want only one champion, the words are going to have to get tougher than that one was for Vanya,” the announcer scoffed. Venkatachalam countered with _caudillismo._ “It’s not the first time in this competition he’s proven he can handle a Spanish-derived word.” She spelled _thamakau_, a word of Fijian origin that describes a large canoe. “Very obscure.” ### The Most Emotional Moments in National Spelling Bee History  Andrew Lay of Stanley, N.C. reacts after he correctly spelled the word "negus" during the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2007 in Washington. Alex Wong—Getty Images  Lance Letson Hungar of McLean, Va. waits for his turn during the semi-final round of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30, 2008 in Washington. Molly Riley—Reuters  Lucas Liner, 14, of Luckey, Ohio struggles to spell "bobadil" in the third round of the National Spelling Bee on June 3, 2010 in Washington. Astrid Riecken—MCT/Getty Images  Samir Patel of Colleyville, Texas struggles to spell the word "eremacausis" during round 7 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 1, 2006 in Washington. Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  Grifton Wright, of Jamaica, grimaces after misspelling "ericeticolous" during the final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2012 in in National Harbor, Md. Chuck Myers—MCT/Getty Images  Sidharth Chand, of Pontiac, Mich. reacts after misspelling "apodyterium" during the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2009 in Washington. Robert Giroux—MCT/Getty Images  Veronica Penny of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, covers up her face as she tries to spell the word "clary" during round four of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition on May 28, 2009 in Washington. Alex Wong—Getty Images  Sammy Totino, 14, of Chesterland, Ohio, reacts after misspelling the word "ocarina" during the 74th annual National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2001 in Washington. Ann Heisenfelt—AP  Justin Carroll concentrates on the word "synchretized", which he spelled in the final round of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on June 1, 1995 in Washington. Jamal A. Wilson—AFP/Getty Images  David Tidmarsh, 14, of South Bend, Indi. peers over his placard after spelling the word "gaminerie" correctly to advance to round 15 during the National Spelling Bee on June 3, 2004 in Washington. Matthew Cavanaugh—Getty Images  Kennyi Aouad, 11, of Terre Haute, Ind., bursts into laughter when asked to spell the word, "sardoodledom," in round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin—AP  Rebecca A. Sealfon, a 13-year-old eighth grade student from Brooklyn, N.Y. celebrates her win in the 70th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on May 29, 1997 in Washington. Stephen Jaffe—AFP/Getty Images  Nupur Lala, 14, from Tampa, Fla., reacts to winning the 72nd annual National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling "logorrhea" on June 3, 1999 in Washington. Ron Edmonds—AP  Michael Reiner of Wellsville, Ohio flashes a big grin after correctly spelling "fete" at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30, 2012 in National Harbor, Md. Chuck Myers—MCT/Getty Images  From left, Dylan O'Connor of Alexandria Bay, N.Y., Tajaun Gibbison of Mandeville, Jamaica, Téa Freedman-Susskind of Redmond, Wash., and Ankita Vadiala of Manassas, Va., celebrate after they qualified for the semifinal round of the National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 in Oxon Hill, Md. Evan Vucci—AP  Speller Jacob Williamson, of Cape Coral, Fla., competes in the finals of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md. on May 29, 2014. Chuck Myers—MCT /Landov  Family members come on stage with spellers Ansun Sujoe, of Fort Worth, left, and Sriram Hathwar, of Painted Post, N.Y., as they celebrate as co-winners of the the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md. on May 29, 2014. Chuck Myers—MCT/Landov He spelled _scytale,_ a message written in a method of cipher used especially by the Spartans. “That’s how good these two are. For most spellers, that would be a nightmare,” the announcer explains. “That dictionary is no mystery to them.” _Tantieme. Cypseline. Urgrund. Filicite._ “I don’t know that either one of these is capable of not winning that trophy.” _Myrmotherine. Sprachgefuhl. Zimocca. Hippocrepiform._ Neither one betrayed much emotion as they cycled up to the microphone. The announcers explained that Venkatachalam was wearing a LeBron James jersey under his button-up. The audience learned that Shivshankar’s sister had previously won the bee. It was no wonder they kept so cool. _Nixtamal. Paroemiology. Scacchite. Pipsissewa. Bruxellois. Pyrrhuloxia_. At this point, there were only four words remaining. That meant that if both spelled their next words correctly, both would go home winners—because there would be just two words left, not enough for a winner to spell two correctly in succession. After cycling through her questions about the origin, part of speech, definition and alternative pronunciations, Shivashankar nailed the byzantine mess of letters that is _scherenschnitte_. (She also won the Lifetime reality show _Child Genius_ earlier this year, which was starting to look like an omen.) Then Venkatachalam headed up to the microphone. The pronouncer said the word. The boy asked no questions and spelled _nunatak_ like he was spelling his own name. The ticker tape rained down on the stage and the spellers hugged each other. He held the left side and she held the right. “This is a dream come true. I can’t believe I’m up here,” Shivashankar said. But with nine bee appearances between them, it’s pretty easy to imagine that something this fitting would happen. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/"},"headline":"The Scripps National Spelling Bee Has Co-Champions, Again","datePublished":"2015-05-29T03:02:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:30.791Z","description":"The winning words in the nail-biter final were 'scherenschnitte' and 'nunatak'","url":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/","keywords":["Newsfeed","language","spelling bee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1736352c7808177/6988522a524fc09c1adf2da7/rtr4xxuy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1736352c7808177/6988522a524fc09c1adf2da7/rtr4xxuy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, St. Louis Missouri lift the trophy after becoming co-champions after the final round of the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee","caption":"Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, St. Louis Missouri lift the trophy after becoming co-champions after the final round of the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee","creditText":"Joshua Roberts—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/","name":"The Scripps National Spelling Bee Has Co-Champions, Again"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"National Spelling Bee: Can You Compete?","description":"Starting this year, kids in the Scripps National Spelling Bee will have to define words as well as spell them. Can you define these Bee winning words?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dsFwYIQm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-04-10T15:54:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dsFwYIQm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/","duration":"PT1M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3901041/scripps-spelling-bee-2015-winners/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```