The annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is a natural pressure cooker for teen and pre-teen madness, combining type-A kids, a national spotlight, and words like “nagelfluh” (a mineral composite, we had to look it up) into one potent cocktail for things getting raw. (R-A-W. Raw.) This year’s match-up was no exception, introducing the world to the artistic savagery of 11-year-old co-winner Nihar Janga, the youngest person to ever triumph in the competition. Do you doubt this kid’s letter-juggling, shade-throwing, victory-dancing bona fides? Then watch this clip of Janga responding to his opponent (and eventual co-champion) Jairam Hathwar screwing up the word “drahthaar” (it’s a kind of dog—thanks, Google) and watch the ice water start flowing through his veins.
But Janga is brutal in his victories, as well as the defeats of others. Watch his reaction to his and Hathwar’s shared victory, after a grueling letter-based back-and-forth:
Janga throws up the X (like his NFL hero, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who responded to the move on social media) and leaves Hathwar hanging on a post-victory high-five not once, but twice. (To be fair, the two are apparently friendly in real life.) It’s a thing of beauty, almost as gorgeous as the sight of a bunch of 10-year-olds furiously dapping because they managed to spell gesellschaft (German for “society”, naturally) correctly on a national stage.