Zaila Avant-garde

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Zalia Avant-garde
Born (2007-02-09) February 9, 2007 (age 15)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSpeller, basketball player, juggler

Zaila Avant-garde (born February 9, 2007) is an American speller, basketball player, and juggler. She won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee. She is the first African-American contestant to win the bee and is the second Black winner, after Jamaica's Jody-Anne Maxwell.[1]

Life[]

Avant-garde was born on February 9, 2007 in Harvey, Louisiana, the daughter of Jawara Spacetime. He chose her last name to honor John Coltrane.[1] She has cited Malala Yousafzai, Serena Williams, and Coco Gauff as inspirations.[2] Her basketball heroes include Steph Curry, James Harden, Diana Taurasi, Kevin Durant and Maya Moore.[3]

Spelling bee[]

Avant-garde reached the nationals in the 2019 Bee. Her coach is former Scripps finalist Cole Shafer-Ray, who also coached runner-up Chaitra Thummala.[1]

Most spellers look at words simply as a sequence of letters to memorize; Zaila looked at each word as a story....Not only did she know each word's spelling, but she also knew its entire backstory - what its historical context was, what roots it came from, and the precise orthographical logic of why every letter of every word had to be exactly what it was.

— Cole Shafer-Ray

In the 2021 competition, she won the title by correctly spelling murraya. Over pandemic concerns, only the 11 finalists competed in person, in a session that took fewer than 2 hours. First place comes with $50,000 in cash and prizes.[1][4] She is the first African American contestant to win the competition, and was preceded by MacNolia Cox, who reached the finals in the 1936 edition.

Basketball[]

Basketball, I’m not just playing it....I’m really trying to go somewhere with it. Basketball is what I do. Spelling is really a side thing I do. It’s like a little hors d’oeuvre. But basketball’s like the main dish.[5]

— Zaila Avant-garde

She is one of the top eighth-grade basketball prospects in the US.[6] Avant-garde is the holder of three basketball Guinness World Records and co-holder of another. Her parents gave her a copy of the Guinness book for her 8th birthday, which triggered her ambition.[5]

On November 14, 2019, she broke her first record, for most bounce juggles in one minute (three basketballs) at 231.[2] That day she also set the record for most bounces of four basketballs in 30 seconds (307). On November 2, 2020, she set the record for most bounce juggles in one minute, using four basketballs (255). She is the co-holder of the record for most basketballs dribbled at one time (six) — set on Jan. 26, 2021 (equalling Joseph Odhiambo’s August 2000 record).[7]

Juggling[]

Avant-garde was the silver medalist at the International Jugglers' Association 2020 championship in the Juniors Division (18U). She is an elite unicyclist and can juggle and cycle simultaneously.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Louisiana teen Zaila Avant-garde correctly spells 'murraya' to win Scripps National Spelling Bee". ESPN. July 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "How a 13-year-old basketball player from Louisiana is inspiring young girls everywhere". Guinness World Records. 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  3. ^ Gleeson, Scott. "Spelling bee champ Zaila Avant-garde is basketball whiz — and Guinness World Record holder". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  4. ^ Jones-Smith, Sarah (July 9, 2021). "Zaila Avant-garde won the national spelling bee, but that wasn't her first real victory". theundefeated.com. The Undefeated. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  5. ^ a b WELLS, CARLIE KOLLATH. "Zaila Avant-garde won the national spelling bee, but basketball is 'what I do.' Watch her moves". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2021-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ a b "Meet Zaila Avant-garde, 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, multiple Guinness World Records holder and basketball prodigy". ESPN.com. 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  7. ^ "Does Zaila Avant-garde Hold Basketball-Related Guinness World Records?". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2021-07-11.

External links[]

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