Surya Kapu, a 13-year-old from South Jordan, Utah, misspelled 'leucovorin' — a medicine used to counteract the side effects of a cancer drug — during Wednesday night's last semifinal round, appearing to end his run in the bee just short of the finals.
Surya Kapu, 13, from South Jordan, Utah, competes during the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday in Oxon Hill, Md.field after successfully appealing that he was denied relevant root information about a word.
Surya's family appealed, arguing that Scripps omitted details when he asked a question about the word's roots. Spellers are permitted to ask questions about roots, and judges answer in the affirmative if a speller can identify a relevant root and its meaning. "The judges' decision to reinstate is backed by a belief in the bee's mission to inspire the exploration of words and celebrate academic achievement," the statement said."Upon further review, it was determined that there was more directly relevant information available in the dictionary to one of the speller's questions. Based on this, Surya will be provided a chance to participate in Round 7 with a new word.