Scripps National Spelling Bee 2021 Finalist Lives In Ashburn

ASHBURN, VA — A Loudoun County teenager advanced to Thursday night's finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee where she will compete against 10 other top spellers ages 10 to 14.

The finals will be held in person at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN U Thursday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Ashrita Gandhari, 14, of Ashburn, is the only competitor from Virginia to qualify for this year’s finals. Ashrita, who recently graduated from Stone Hill Middle School in Loudoun County, is participating in her fourth Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This is Ashrita's first time in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals. She previously competed in the spelling bee in 2017 when she tied for 35th place, in 2018 when she tied for 42nd place and 2019 when she tied for 51st place. This is Ashrita's last year of eligibility in the spelling bee.

Ashrita is the vice president of her school's newspaper club, and her favorite book is The Catcher in the Rye. She is also the founder of her school's debate club. Her favorite band is The Arctic Monkeys, and she enjoys tennis and dance.

She has been spending about 10 hours a day practicing her spelling and is working with three spelling bee coaches, according to The New York Times.

Ashrita was featured in a 2020 Neflix documentary "Spelling the Dream," a film that followed her involvement, along with other participants, in the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee when she was only 10 years old.

SEE ALSO: Fairfax County Teen's Spelling Passion Leads To National Stage

Ashrita and Akshita Balaji, 14, of Merrifield, represented Northern Virginia in the semifinals of this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee. Akshita became the first Fairfax County student in more than a decade to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee semifinals.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the preliminaries, quarterfinals and semifinals were held virtually in the weeks leading up to Thursday's finals.

In the finals, Ashrita will be competing against four finalists from Texas as well as finalists from The Bahamas, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Louisiana and California.

First lady Jill Biden will travel to Orlando on Thursday for the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Biden will meet with the spelling bee competitors and their families before the finals begin at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the White House said Tuesday.

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