Kavya Shivashankar Spells Winner "Laodicean"

The word that won the event for Kavya Shivashankar: "Laodicean," which means lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics. This is her fourth attempt in the finals. She had previously finished 10th, 8th and 4th over the last three years.

Runner-up Tim Ruiter was eliminated on "maecenas" and third-place finisher Aishwarya Pastapur was eliminated on "menhir." The finals took nine rounds and 55 words.

Kavya Shivashankar had an interesting technique, writing out each word on her palm. In this, the 82nd annual spelling bee, she became the first person from Kansas to win the championship.

Kavya Shivashankar's role model? Nupur Lala, who won in 1999 and was featured in the 2002 documentary "Spellbound."

What's up now for Kavya Shivashakar? After all, she's retiring as a speller. Her future career, if she doesn't change her mind, is neurosurgery. Her father Mirle said she might enter the "Brain Bee," a science-oriented contest.

However, Kavya said:

"But I don't think anything can replace spelling. Spelling has been such a big part of my life."