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Not every MECC story begins with a professor, a classroom, or a career goal. Sometimes it begins with an Instagram story, twenty unexpected messages, and a daughter who decided she wanted to be just as cool as her dad.
Elena Thai’s journey into the world of Excel Esports is unlike any other in the MECC community. What started as a social media moment quickly became a journey that took her from never having opened Excel to competing on the international stage at the MECC European Open in Amsterdam, alongside the very person who inspired her to sign up in the first place.
Long before Elena had ever heard of MECC, Excel was already part of her life. Her dad, James Thai had a way of turning everyday moments into spreadsheet opportunities. There was one for tracking how many people came to the house each Halloween so they would know how much candy to buy the following year. There was another for managing her weekly allowance.
It was that allowance spreadsheet that gave Elena her very first introduction to Excel functions. Not wanting to manually update the amount every week, she discovered something that would stay with her. “I discovered there’s a TODAY function, you could write a formula that was like if the date is less than today, then add some amount to this number, which I was very surprised to learn and also amazed. I think it’s pretty awesome for a seven year old.”
Her dad did not just introduce her to MECC. He introduced her to the world of spreadsheets long before she even knew Excel Esports existed, and that foundation, built over years of childhood curiosity and family spreadsheets, would eventually carry her all the way to Amsterdam.
When Elena’s dad, James Thai began competing in the Microsoft Excel World Championship last year and travelled to Las Vegas to compete, Elena posted about it on her Instagram story. What happened next surprised her. “Around 20 different people messaged me saying wow your dad is so cool, I didn’t know this was a thing.” That reaction was all the motivation she needed. “I was like, I need to get into this Excel Esports thing so that people also think I’m cool. That’s why I decided to sign up.”
What makes Elena’s story particularly remarkable is that she came to MECC with almost no Excel experience at all. “Before joining MECC I actually didn’t have much Excel experience at all. I had only ever used Google Sheets. I kind of only started using Excel so I could compete in Excel Esports.”
She signed up not for career advancement or academic credit but simply because she saw something exciting and wanted to be part of it. That honesty and lightness is what makes her story so refreshing and so relatable for any student who has ever felt intimidated by the idea of signing up to MECC and competing in Excel Esports. If Elena could go from almost no Excel experience to Amsterdam in a matter of months, so can anyone.
Competing at the MECC European Open in Amsterdam was everything Elena hoped it would be and more, though she admits it came with its fair share of nerves. Before the event she had only ever competed in three Online Weekend Battles. That was the full extent of her competitive Excel experience heading into one of the biggest student Excel Esports events in the world.
“It was also a bit scary to compete on stage though, especially against so many people who have been using Excel for many many years. Before this tournament I had only ever done three weekend battles so it was a little bit scary but it was also very exciting and awesome.”
Beyond the competition itself, it was the people and the community that left the biggest impression. Elena met students from countries all over the world, many of whom she is still in touch with long after the event ended. The connections made at MECC have a way of lasting well beyond the competition itself.
But it was the Microsoft Excel World Championship main event finals that gave Elena a moment she will never forget. Diarmuid Early, the favorite to win, had been sitting in ninth place for almost the entire game. With only minutes remaining he solved level 7 and jumped to first place. Then Sergio Trifiletti solved it too and took the lead. With seconds left on the clock Dim secured the final bonus and took back first place in the most dramatic of fashions.
“The energy in the crowd was really special. I’ve been to Raptors games and Jays games and Leafs games but they can’t compare to being there in person at the Excel European Open Arena. You had to be there.”
For someone who had only discovered Excel Esports a few months earlier, that moment crystallised everything. This was not just a spreadsheet competition. This was something so much more.
The MECC European Open 2026 introduced a brand new competition format for the very first time. Mixed Doubles paired male and female competitors together to solve a case as a team. For Elena, there was only one person she wanted beside her on that stage.
Competing alongside her dad in Amsterdam was the full circle moment that tied her entire MECC journey together. The man who had taught her to track Halloween candy in a spreadsheet, who had introduced her to the TODAY function before she was old enough to fully understand what a function was, was now her teammate on an international Excel Esports stage.
“Competing with my dad was super special because he was actually the first person to ever introduce me to spreadsheets. My dad instilled this love for spreadsheets in me from a very young age and I just think it was really amazing that we were able to do this together.”
As for preparation, the pair took a characteristically relaxed approach. The night before the competition, they decided they should probably do something to get ready. They each completed a case individually without talking to each other and called it preparation. Elena laughs about it now but the spirit behind it, two people who love spreadsheets sitting together the night before a competition, says everything about what made that experience so special.
Ask Elena what she has taken from her MECC journey so far and she does not hesitate. It is the creativity of it all that she loves most.
“I think a lot of Excel Esports is about creativity because everyone has the same functions and stuff but there are infinite ways to solve each case which I think is really beautiful because the challenge lies in finding the most efficient or really any way to solve a case and I just really love that about Excel Esports.”
Beyond the competition itself, it is the community that has shaped her experience. Particularly Excel Ladies, a group within the Excel community that has been a source of learning, support, and connection throughout her journey. When asked to choose between the competition, the community, and the learning as her favorite aspect of MECC, Elena finds it impossible to separate them.
“They all go hand in hand. I’ve learned so much from this amazing supportive community specifically Excel Ladies. They’ve really taught me so much and I don’t think I could pick just one.”
And as for Excel itself, the tool she only started using so she could compete? “I’ve discovered it’s actually quite useful even outside of Esports. There’s just so much more you can do and I feel, I’ve unlocked a whole new world of spreadsheets.”
Elena’s message to any student sitting on the fence about signing up to MECC is as straightforward as she is. “Just do it. It’s free, why not, and it’ll be really fun. You never know the places Excel will take you.”
And if proof is needed, Elena’s own journey is the most compelling case she could make. She signed up in January. By May she was in Amsterdam, competing in the 2026 MECC European Open.
“I just started this January and then in May I went to Amsterdam which is pretty amazing. So yeah go for it, especially if you’re a woman and especially if you go to the University of Waterloo, so we can make a team.”
Hear more about Elena Thai’s story and her full journey from a sign up to competing at the MECC European Open in Amsterdam with her Dad. Watch the full interview with Elena Thai here:
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