Six-year-old Chinese girl breaks women's Rubik's cube world record twice

Six-year-old Lian Yunzhi, a young speedcuber from China's Sichuan province, has set a new benchmark in competitive puzzle solving. Over the course of three days in September 2026, she broke the women’s world record for the 3x3x3 Rubik’s cube twice during sanctioned World Cube Association events held in Wuhan and Guangzhou. Her performance improved from an initial average time of 4.52 seconds to a final record-breaking average of 4.27 seconds.

This achievement makes Lian the first woman in history to record an average solve time of under 4.5 seconds. Her rapid progress is attributed to a disciplined training regimen maintained over the past year, which involved two to three hours of daily practice and the mastery of over 1,300 specific solving algorithms. Her success highlights that high-level precision and speed in competitive cubing can be achieved through consistent dedication regardless of age.