Eleven-year-old Yiheng Wang has officially claimed the crown at the 2025 Rubik’s Cube World Championship, dominating the 3×3 event with unparalleled speed.
The competition took place in Seattle, where Speedcubers from around the world gathered for the World Cube Association’s flagship event. Wang secured first place with an average solve time of 4.23 seconds, a record average.
Wang leads a new generation of speed-discovery talent
Wang’s final round was 5.45, 3.80, 4.31, 3.94 and 4.43 seconds, allowing him to catch seven-year-old Xuanyi Geng, who finished second with an average of 4.49 seconds, per the WCA .
Going into the event, Wang already held a world record with an average of 3.91 seconds, set at the Lishui Open in May 2025. Check out Wang’s reaction to winning the championship below.
To put into context just how wild these times are, hobbyist Rubik’s solvers take anywhere from one to several minutes to solve a single 3×3 cube. There’s no scientific average, of course, but in general, professional solvers are in the region of 15 to 30 times faster than average.
It’s also worth noting that the WCA holds separate competitions for Rubik’s Cubes of different sizes, including 2×2 and 5×5 cubes. As you’d expect, the solve times for both are vastly different compared to the more popular 3×3 standard.
Wang’s victory cements him as the youngest 3×3 world champion in WCA history and the first to win with an average time under 4.3 seconds. The record was previously held by Max Park’s 5.09 seconds, set in 2023.
