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Oratorical World Championships
Congratulations to our World Champions!
First Place
Samiksha Gaherwar Southeast Region $15,000
Second Place
Rin Choi South Korea $10,000
Third Place
Above: Optimist International President Patsy Garner and Foundation President Marc Katz with 1st place World Winner Samiksha Gaherwar and her family.
2022 Optimist International
Oratorical World Championships
The Seventh Annual Optimist International Oratorical World Championships took place at Saint Louis University on July 21-22, 2022. Over 50 contestants from the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States competed in eight World Regions. The Global Region included contestants from Haiti, Hong Kong, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Korea. The nine World Regional winners received a $5,000 scholarship and advanced to the World Championships. The first, second, and third place World Champions received scholarships of $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000 respectively. Thank you to all the contestants, judges, volunteers, teachers, coaches, and Optimist Members that helped make this program a success!
Congratulations to our Regional Champions!
Samiksha Gaherwar Southeast Region Mukta Dharmapurikar Mid-Atlantic Region Maryam Al-Sabawi NE & Great Lakes Region AdyLynn Anderson Southwest Region Zafina Zaman Great Plains Region Amrutha Challa West Coast Region Abigail Richner Middle America Region Maeva Giroux Optimiste Francophone Canadien Rin Choi Global Region (South Korea)
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1. Maryam Al-Sabawi 2. Rin Choi, Virtual (Global Region – South Korea) 3. Maeva Giroux, Virtual (Optimiste Francophone Canadien) 4. World Champion Winner Samiksha Gaherwar's father jumping with excitement after hearing the news that his daughter won 1st place! 5. Great Plains Regional Winner Zafina Zaman awaits final results holding hands with her mom, who was the inspiration for her speech. 6. Regional Winners: Samiksha Gaherwar, AdyLynn Anderson, Zafina Zaman, Abigail Richner, Amrutha Challa, Maryam Al-Sabawi, Mukta Dharmapurikar
All scholarships are funded by the Optimist International Foundation and the Canadian Children’s Optimist Foundation. Their support allows Optimist International to continue this great program since its start in 1928.
