After Being Sidelined By The Pandemic, The Spelling Bee Makes Its Great R-E-T-U-R-N

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After Being Sidelined By The Pandemic, The Spelling Bee Makes Its Great R-E-T-U-R-N

By Alana Wise,

Alana Wise

Published July 8, 2021 at 8:50 AM EDT

The 2019 Scripps Spelling Bee co-champions hold up their trophy at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. After pausing in 2020, the competition is back on this year. The finals are Thursday night in Orlando, Fla.

Updated July 8, 2021 at 4:12 PM ET

Last year, fans of the popular Scripps Spelling Bee were distraught when the coronavirus spelled . But this year, the game has returned, with attending the Orlando, Fla., event.

out of more than 200 of the nation's b-e-s-t spellers will take to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney Resort on Thursday in pursuit of academic prestige and .

How to watch

The National Spelling Bee will air on ESPN2 and at 8 p.m. ET.

The 2020 games as a result of the coronavirus. This time last year, infection rates were raging, and the world was still months away from approving a vaccine against the virus.

But Thursday night, young scholars from across the country once again have a chance to show off their spelling chops on one of the largest academic stages in the world. FLOTUS (not included in the 2020 official , but fun to write nonetheless) is herself an educator, adding extra layer of competition for the spelling hopefuls.

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Alana Wise

Alana Wise joined WAMU in September 2018 as the 2018-2020 Audion Reporting Fellow for Guns & America. Selected as one of 10 recipients nationwide of the Audion Reporting Fellowship, Alana works in the WAMU newsroom as part of a national reporting project and is spending two years focusing on the impact of guns in the Washington region.

See stories by Alana Wise

Alana Wise

Alana Wise is a politics reporter on the Washington desk at 海角社区.