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Parkway student compares his National Spelling Bee first-place finish to LeBron James' NBA title

Gokul Venkatachalam talks with media as his younger brother holds the National Spelling Bee trophy
Courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee
Gokul Venkatachalam talks with media as his younger brother holds the National Spelling Bee trophy

Last night, one word stood between 14-year-old Chesterfield resident Gokul Venkatachalam, $35,000 and a National Spelling Bee championship. That word was “nunatak” which Merriam-Webster defines as “a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice.” When the final word was announced Venkatachalam said he knew what to do.

“I was just thinking focus and get my word right.”

Gokul spelled “nunatak” effortlessly to ensure his first place tie with Vanya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kan. For the past four years, Gokul has made his way through the millions of competitors to represent St. Louis at the national competition. This was his last chance to compete, as the cutoff is eighth grade. The teen compares his victory to basketball star LeBron James’ victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012. Both secured championships after multiple defeats.

Parkway School District Schools celebrate Venkatachalam's win
Credit Courtesy of Parkway School District
Parkway School District Schools celebrate Venkatachalam's win

“He [James] just make a breakthrough and he beat the  Thunder, and that’s what I felt my journey was like. I just couldn’t do it the first few times and then I made it the final time,” said Gokul.

The National Spelling Bee competition is nothing to scoff at. More than 11 million people from all 50 states compete in the initial stages of the competition. This year’s battle came down to a half hour alternating word to word competition between Gokul and Vanya.

Prior to Gokul’s final word, the judges outlined the importance of that word. If Gokul answered correctly, there would be a tie, if answered incorrectly Vanya would have another chance to take the title for herself. The Chesterfield teen didn’t even ask for pronunciations or definitions.  He answered coolly and directly.

“Nunatak n-u-n-a-t-a-k Nunatak.” The crowd went wild.

The youth said he’s known he could win for years. 

“I started to think that I had a shot at winning when I knew most of the words that appeared in the competition regularly,” he said.

Gokul came close last year when he came in third. He attributes his win to an evolved training style.  He says his initial training approach was primarily trial and error based but became more structured over time.

“In about seventh grade I almost perfected it.  There was just a slight error that happened,” he said. That slight error was a missed “e” in the word Kierkegaardian. 

When asked what it feels like to finally win, Gokul hesitates.

“It still really hasn’t hit me yet,” he said.