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Congratulations Nate Gartke -- You have left Canada Post spellbound!

June 1, 2007

Canada Post sends its congratulations to Alberta's Nate Gartke on his stunning performance at the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Thirteen-year-old Nate finished second in the international competition after a tense duel with Evan O'Dorney from Danville, California.

Nate breezed through the competition in his attempt to become the first Canadian to win the 80th annual bee. Nate and Evan went head-to-head for three rounds, matching each other's correct spellings until Nate flubbed the medical word "coryza" by adding the letter "h."

"Nate's cheerfulness and ability to perform under such demanding circumstances are an example for each of us," said Moya Greene, President and CEO at Canada Post, the Presenting Sponsor of the CanWest CanSpell Spelling Bee in Canada. "His incredible knowledge of language and words served him well, and I congratulate him on his accomplishment. I also send Canada Post's thanks to the other Canadian contenders for so wonderfully representing Canada in this international competition."

The Bee began on Wednesday with 286 spellers. By Thursday afternoon, only 15 remained. Of the finalists, Canada represented 20 per cent of the group with two other spellers hailing from Canadian cities: Cody Wang of Calgary and Anqi Dong from Saskatoon. All three boys and the 17 other Canadian competitors were the winning representatives from local bees in the CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee, presented by Canada Post.