Spelling bee held in the United States in 2000
The 73rd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Grand Hyatt Washington on May 31 – June 1, 2000, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.
Twelve-year-old George Abraham Thampy, from Saint Louis, Missouri won the competition by correctly spelling the word "demarche".[2][3][4] Thampy had taken third place in the prior year's bee, and fourth place in the 1998 bee.[4] He also took second place in the National Geography Bee a week before winning the Spelling Bee. Thampy was the second home-schooled student to ever win the Bee.[5] The first was Rebecca Sealfon at the 1997 bee.[6]
Second place went to 12-year old Sean Conley of Newark, California who missed "apotropaic". He went on to win the next year's Bee. Third place went to 14-year old Allison Miller of Niskayuna, New York, who missed "venire".[5]
There were 248 spellers this year. 138 spellers were eliminated in the first day of competition. The first place prize was $10,000, followed by $5000 for second, and $3000 for third place.[1]
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