Does Zaila Avant-garde Hold Basketball-Related Guinness World Records?
In July 2021, Zaila Avant-garde made history as the first Black American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and the first Black winner since Jamaican teen Jody-Anne Maxwell in 1998. In correctly spelling murraya  a type of tropical tree  in the 18th round of the final, the Louisiana eighth-grader emerged from a field of 208 other competitors to claim the title of champion. In addition to highlighting this remarkable achievement, several news reports and social media posts pointed to the 14-year-olds other superlatives and accomplishments, claiming that she also holds three Guinness World Records for dribbling basketballs. Those claims were entirely true. As of July 9, 2021, Avant-garde holds the world record for:  On Nov. 14, 2019, Avant-garde also set the world record for the most bounce juggles in one minute, using three basketballs (231), but that record was surpassed in August 2020 by Hungarian Tams Felfldi, who completed 233. Therefore, according to the official source  the Guinness World Records website  Avant-garde held three separate world records concurrently as of July 9, 2021, and has held a total of four records, at various times, since November 2019, breaking her first record at the age of 13. Videos of Avant-gardes extraordinary basketball skills, as well as her spelling bee accomplishments, can be found on her Instagram profile, and in the Guinness World Records feature video, below: