Scripps National Spelling Bee: 14-year old Zaila Avant-garde makes history winning US contest

Zaila Avant-garde holding her trophy after winning the competition

Zaila Avant-garde has made history by being the first African American to win the Scripps US National Spelling Bee.

The 14-year-old had to spell a series of really tricky words from memory to win the competition.

If that doesn't sound easy, well that's because it isn't!

Zaila puts in hours and hours of training to learn lots of different words in case they come up.

She won the glory, a big trophy and the first place prize of $50,000 (£36,000) after spelling "murraya", which is a type of tropical tree.

Zaila the record breaker

Zaila is home-schooled and as well as being a spelling bee champion she also wants to be a professional basketball player.

"For spelling, I usually try to do about 13,000 words [per day], and that usually takes about seven hours or so," she told New Orleans paper the Times-Picayune.

"We don't let it go way too overboard, of course. I've got school and basketball to do."

All her training seems to be paying off because she already holds three world records for dribbling lots of basket balls at the same time.

Which words did she have to spell to win?

The contestants had to wear masks and sit far apart to stay Covid safe

Zaila had to spell lots of unusual words to take the crown including:

In 2019, eight children came joint-first for the first time in the spelling bee's history.

The tournament was cancelled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.