The usual bunch of home-schooled prodigies were in DC for the national spelling bee, which concluded today. A local boy took second place in remarkable fashion:
In the end, he [winner David Tidmarsh] defeated Akshay Buddiga, a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., who had briefly collapsed on stage rounds earlier.
Within seconds of crumpling, Akshay stood up and, to the amazement of the judges, immediately started spelling his word: "alopecoid," which means like a fox. He got it perfectly, drawing a standing ovation.
He was led off stage for a medical check and returned for the next round.
Akshay made it into the final twosome while sitting on a chair at the microphone, looking weak, his questions to the judges barely loud enough to hear.
"To me, that's what you call grit," said Paige Kimble, the bee director. "It was an extraordinary circumstance."
Here in Colorado even our brainy kids are tough.
Posted by Walter at June 3, 2004 10:41 PM