Annie-Lois Acheampong, 13, from Accra, Ghana, reacts during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. – One speller ran off the stage in the middle of her time at the microphone, saying she needed to pee. Another tried to walk back to her seat after spelling her first word correctly, only to be reminded she had a vocabulary word next. During one particularly brutal stretch, 10 consecutive spellers heard the bell that signals elimination.
“The prelims is no joke. Every stage of the bee is so important,” said Dhroov Bharatia, a 13-year-old from Plano, Texas, who finished fourth last year. Annie-Lois Acheampong, one of three spellers from Ghana, didn't get that far in her first try. She labored successfully through her first word, “coulrophobia” — fear of clowns — and then was asked to define “edamame.” She smiled initially, but when she crossed her legs and couldn't stand still, it was clear something else was going on.“I think I'm going to pee myself,” the 13-year-old eighth grader said. “Can I go pee? I'm very sorry.
The judges ultimately decided to let Annie-Lois return after the day's last scheduled speller. She got her substitute vocabulary word right but faltered on the spelling of “apery” to conclude the day's action. Although Annie-Lois could have been eliminated for exceeding the 30-second time limit for the earlier vocabulary question, Brooks said the speller's clock was paused because she was experiencing a legitimate emergency.
“It was really scary,” Braydon said, “but I also felt really happy at the same time. It was a weird feeling.”
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