Fainting Speller Says Lights Got To Him
Fainter Recovers To Finish Second
POSTED: 11:53 am EDT June 4,
2004
UPDATED: 12:08 pm EDT June 4,
2004
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WASHINGTON -- The bright lights and a big word did in Akshay Buddiga.
The 13-year-old Colorado boy who fainted on stage during Thursday's National Spelling Bee final says he felt lightheaded after being presented with his word (alopecoid) and noticing the bright TV lights trained on him.To the crowd's amazement, he popped right back up after hitting the floor and spelled the word correctly.He told NBC Friday he didn't really know the word -- and didn't even care if he spelled it right because he just wanted to get it over with.The winner ended up being David Tidmarsh from South Bend, Ind.
The 14-year-old pronounced each letter of his word -- autochthonous -- haltingly, and then covered his face when he won.He told NBC he was so excited, he had a tough time keeping himself under control.
Tidmarsh -- who tied for 16th in last year's event -- took home a top prize package of $17,000.He's a straight-A student who spent months studying the dictionary to prepare for the spelling bee.
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Previous Stories:
- June 3, 2004: Indiana Boy Spells 'Autochthonous' To Win Bee
- June 2, 2004: Spelling Bee Rolls Toward Finals
- June 1, 2004: National Spelling Bee Begins With 25 Words
- June 1, 2004: Top Spellers Compete For Final Word
- May 30, 2002: Some Spelling Students Think Bee Is U-N-F-A-I-R
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