— -- Despite the Scripps National Spelling Bee creating new rules this year to try to crown one champion instead of co-champions, the final two spellers Thursday night went the distance as the Bee ran out of words.
The winners of the 89th annual competition -- held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland -- are Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning, New York, and Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, Texas.
The winning words were: Feldenkrais and Gesellschaft
Both champions will receive a $40,000 cash prize, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 worth of Encyclopedia Britannica products, and a trip to New York City, where they will appear on "LIVE with Kelly."
There were 284 contestants total.
Darren Reynolds and Margaret Chadbourn contributed to this report.
