Six Indian-origin students are among the eight participants who won the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee after defeating over 550 other contestants in an unprecedented competition in the US.

It is the first time in the 94-year history of the competition that more than two co-champions have been named.

Rishik Gandhasri, Saketh Sundar,  Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali,  Rohan Raja, Christopher Serrao and Erin Howard were named as co-champions. Each will receive the full winner’s prize of 50,000 US Dollar in cash.

The six boys and two girls combined to spell the final 47 words correctly over five consecutive perfect rounds.

The 565 contestants ranged in age from 7 to 14 and came from across the US and several other countries, including Canada, Ghana and Jamaica.

The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling match and spellers spend months preparing for it.