Heartbreak as spelling bee contestant celebrates too early

A US schoolboy spelling whiz has been eliminated from a national spelling bee in brutal fashion after triumphantly declaring that he knew the word he later spelt incorrectly.

Jacob Williamson, a 15-year-old who has won plenty of fans on social media with his animated displays during the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee, had his run cut cruelly short in the ninth round after misspelling the name of a giant Southeast Asian aquatic lizard, NaplesNews.com reports.

Williamson, from Cape Coral in Florida, first exclaimed "I know it, I know it" when posed with the word "kabaragoya".

But Williamson kicked off his response with a "c" instead of a "k" and let off a shocked "What?!" when the failure bell rang.

Williamson, a home-schooled eighth grader, ended up finishing seventh overall in the competition which will be his last due to his age.

"I love the competition, I've always enjoyed that part and I wish I could keep spelling, but there's no place to do it," Williamson told NapleNews.com

"I loved being up on stage, and I can't wait to go home and see how it all looked on television – we taped it."

Two boys were named co-champions – Sriram Hathwar from New York and Ansun Sujoe from Texas – in what was the first tie in the National Spelling Bee in 52 years.

Source: NaplesNews.com

Author: Jack Hawke, Approving editor: Martin Zavan