Chinese Girl, 6, Shatters Rubik's Cube World Record
Lian Yunzhi achieved an average solve time under 4.5 seconds, setting a new benchmark in competitive cubing.
A six-year-old Chinese girl has set a new women's world record for solving a Rubik's Cube. Lian Yunzhi broke the record for the 3x3x3 puzzle twice in just three days during competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou.
The youngster completed five solves with an average time of 4.52 seconds before lowering it again to an astonishing 4.27 seconds. This achievement makes her the only female cuber in the world to record an average time below 4.5 seconds.
Footage shows Yunzhi rapidly twisting the puzzle before proudly holding up her trophy. Another clip captures her solving the cube at remarkable speed while surrounded by her schoolmates.
Yunzhi, from Chengdu in Sichuan province, has learned more than 1,300 algorithms and spent between two and three hours practicing each day over the past year. She was also filmed practicing at home with her parents, who showed Red Star News a shelf lined with her trophies.
Her mother, Lin Yangxi, said Yunzhi was introduced to the Rubik's Cube through an extracurricular class alongside dance and music lessons. Ms Lin stated that she gradually came to view cubing as an excellent way of developing a child's overall abilities.
"Solving a Rubik's Cube improves focus, memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness, and helps develop a healthy mindset toward winning and losing," Ms. Lin explained. "It's not just about blindly memorizing formulas, but using logical reasoning to find optimal solutions."
According to the World Cube Association, the six-year-old has competed in 33 events across China and completed 569 official solves. Her fastest single time for a 3x3x3 cube is 3.54 seconds, while her personal best for a 2x2x2 cube is 2.15 seconds.
The previous record holder was Qixian Cao, who achieved an average time of 5.97 seconds in 2023 when she was six. Now nine, Qixian later recorded a 4.98-second average at the Start of Summer Beijing 2026 competition in May, placing her seventh in the world overall, according to Speedcuber's Digest.