Six-year-old Chinese girl twice breaks women’s Rubik’s Cube world record
Six-year-old Lian Yunzhi has twice broken the women’s world record for the average time to solve a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube, lowering the mark to 4.27 seconds.
- Lian Yunzhi lowered the women’s 3x3 average record from 4.52 seconds to 4.27 seconds.
- The six-year-old has mastered more than 1,300 Rubik’s Cube-solving algorithms.
- Overall records remain faster, with Yiheng Wang holding the five-solve average record at 3.51 seconds.
A six-year-old Chinese girl has broken the women’s world record for the average time to solve a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube twice within three days, becoming the first female speedcuber to record an average of less than 4.5 seconds.
Lian Yunzhi, from Chengdu in Sichuan province and nicknamed “Zhizhi”, recorded an average of 4.52 seconds on 12 September before lowering the mark to 4.27 seconds on 14 September.
The records were set at two World Cube Association (WCA)-certified competitions, the WCA Wuhan Danqiu Cube Competition and the WCA Guangzhou Three-Speed Double-Wheel Competition IV, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.
The average is calculated from five solves.
CCTV said Yunzhi had become the only female player in the world to achieve an average time of under 4.5 seconds.
Video footage showed Yunzhi wearing a red gingham bow as she quickly twisted and turned the cube. After completing the puzzle, she placed it on the table, clapped her hands and raised a fist in celebration.
From extracurricular class to speedcubing
Yunzhi was introduced to Rubik’s Cube solving after being enrolled in a class, alongside other extracurricular activities including dance and music lessons, her mother Lin Yangxi told local media outlets.
Lin told Chengdu’s Red Star News that she gradually realised cubing was an “excellent activity for fostering a child’s comprehensive abilities” and shifted her focus towards encouraging her daughter’s interest in the activity.
Yunzhi has since mastered more than 1,300 Rubik’s Cube-solving algorithms and practises for two to three hours each day, her mother said.
“Solving a Rubik’s Cube improves focus, memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness, and helps develop a healthy mindset toward winning and losing,” Lin said, according to The Guardian.
“It’s not just about blindly memorising formulas, but using logical reasoning to find optimal solutions,” she added.
Overall records remain ahead
While Yunzhi now holds the women’s world record for the average of five 3x3 solves, the overall records remain faster.
According to Guinness World Records, the fastest single solve is 2.76 seconds, achieved by Teodor Zajder in Gdansk, Poland, on 8 February 2026. Zajder was also the first person to break the three-second barrier.
The fastest average of five solves is 3.51 seconds, achieved by Yiheng Wang in Hefei, China, on 17 June 2026, Guinness World Records reported.
