back at the spelling bee, carmen frappier was resplendent in her new coif but failed to reach the podium. tom campbell also fell early and, coincidentally, by the very hand he most feared from the outset: the american/british spelling divide, as his choice of the u.s. spelling of the word jewellery — jewelry — saw him (perhaps unfairly?) eliminated.
the spelling bee was a white knuckler, lasting way beyond the time limit, as seniors like tom campbell and donna macgregor breezed through preliminary rounds.
julie oliver
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postmedia
instead, it was donna mcgregor, a glebe collegiate graduate competing for landmark court’s all-female “pink ladies” squad, who won gold, despite having no previous spelling bee experience or related work experience that might have given her an edge.
“i could use a pink lady about now,” she noted after the lengthy bee, which was decided when her only remaining opponent stumbled on the word “minuscule.”
mcgregor said that she did some warm-up exercises beforehand, reading online lists of spelling bee words. other than that, though, she largely credited her mother for her success.
“my mother was english, had a dictionary, and always spoke well,” she said. “so maybe it’s genetic? i always liked spelling, and it came easy for me.”
wednesday’s olympiad celebration, meanwhile, was everything participants could hope for, at least those who weren’t too hung up on winning. it was fun, dramatic, and inclusive, and indeed a celebration. while the other olympic games — the ones held in paris this year — only last year changed their motto from “higher, faster, stronger” to “higher, faster, stronger – together,” the together part was what this olympiad was all about.