Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 23
China's Lian Yunzhi, 6, Sets Women's Rubik's Cube Record at 4.27 Seconds
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 23

China's Lian Yunzhi, 6, Sets Women's Rubik's Cube Record at 4.27 Seconds

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 23

Summary

  • Lian Yunzhi, a 6-year-old from Chengdu, set the women’s 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube world record with a 4.27-second average at a World Cube Association-certified competition in Guangzhou.
  • Three days earlier in Wuhan, she had already posted a 4.52-second average, then lowered it after five solves in Guangzhou on Sept. 16.
  • Lian began learning the cube at age 4 and now practices two to three hours a day, maintaining more than 1,300 solving algorithms, her parents told CCTV.
  • The broader 3x3x3 single-solve world record stands at 2.76 seconds, set by Poland’s Teodor Zajder in February at age 9.

Insights

What secret training methods allow a kindergartener to outpace adult speedcubers and achieve a historic sub-4.5 second average?
Could mastering thousands of spatial patterns at age six unlock hidden cognitive abilities, or does it risk intense childhood burnout?