In a feat that has sent ripples through the global speedcubing community, a six-year-old girl from China has established a new women’s world record for the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube, averaging a blistering 4.27 seconds. Lian Yunzhi, affectionately known as “Zhizhi”, achieved the milestone at two World Cube Association certified competitions held this month, cementing her status as a once-in-a-generation talent in a sport that demands extraordinary cognitive agility.
A Prodigy in the Making
Hailing from Chengdu, Lian first encountered the iconic puzzle not through a singular obsession, but as one of several extracurricular pursuits. Her mother, Lin Yangxi, initially enrolled the young girl in a diverse programme of activities, encompassing both dance and music lessons. However, it was the multicoloured cube that truly captured the child’s imagination.
Lin gradually recognised that cubing was an “excellent activity for fostering a child’s comprehensive abilities,” prompting a deliberate shift in focus towards the puzzle, she explained to Chengdu’s Red Star News. The decision has yielded remarkable results. Today, the six-year-old has mastered more than 1,300 distinct Rubik’s Cube solving algorithms, dedicating two to three hours of daily practice to honing her craft. Photographs from the family home reveal a shelf proudly displaying the growing collection of trophies she has amassed in her brief but explosive competitive career.
The Mechanics of a Record
The path to the world record was not a solitary stroke of luck, but a demonstration of consistent excellence under pressure. According to state broadcaster CCTV, Lian broke the women’s 3×3 average world record on two separate occasions this September. The first occurred at a competition in Wuhan, where she posted an average of 4.52 seconds. Days later, she surpassed her own freshly minted benchmark in Guangzhou,
