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With the benefit of hindsight, Vikram Raju knows there was almost no chance he would win after finishing as runner-up in the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

“The chances of getting that high are infinitesimally small, and the chances of doing it again are an order of magnitude smaller, obviously,” Vikram said Wednesday. “So it’s a really daunting feeling as well because you always try to outdo yourself from the previous year.”