Vikram Raju, a seventh grader from Denver, Colorado, who finished as the runner-up of the 2022 edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, hosted by actor LeVar Burton.

Beaten by Harini Logan in the first-ever spell-off in the competition’s 125-year history, the 12-year lost the competition in the final speed round, spelling 15 words correctly, as opposed to winner Logan’s 21.

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Despite his loss, however, Raju showed tremendous prowess in the competition, aceing the spellings of esoteric words such as Otukian, coracidium, opisometer, among others to head into the spell-off.

Regardless, Raju will take heart from the experience, which was his third time in the National Spelling Bee.

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The seventh grader had previously competed in 2019, and finished tied for the 51st place. In 2021, he competed again, and ended up tied for the 21st place.

This year’s competition marked the first time Raju went into the finals.

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A student of the Aurora Quest school in Colorado, Raju displayed a knack from spelling and vocabulary from an early age, excelling in phonics and learning words.

Apart from his interest in spellings, Raju, by his own admission, loves playing the piano as well as basketball.

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Passionate about the environment, Raju finds himself at home in the lap of nature, and is a big fan of hiking and associated activities.

Despite his young age, Raju also enjoys learning geography and is fascinated by the sciences, with the medical and health sciences being his favourites.