At just 6 years old, China's Yunzhi Lian (连允之; the press calls her Lian Yunzhi) has broken the best average ever by a woman on the Rubik's Cube twice in three days. First she averaged 4.52 seconds on 13 September 2026 in Wuhan and, three days later, 4.27 seconds in Guangzhou.
To put it in perspective: counting men and women, only three people in the world have a better average.
Two competitions in three days
In official competitions, the average is calculated from 5 solves: the best and the worst are discarded and the other three are averaged.
On 13 September, in the final of Wuhan Crimson Autumn 2026, Yunzhi did 4.50, 4.74, 3.54, 5.47 and 4.33 seconds: a 4.52 average and third place. That 3.54 is also her best single solve.
On 16 September, at Guangzhou GraDUAL 3x3 IV 2026, she was even more consistent: 4.20, 4.39, 4.54, 4.02 and 4.22 seconds. A 4.27 average and first place in the final.
A women's world record?
The WCA, the association that runs official competitions, does not keep separate records for men and women: the world record average is 3.51 seconds, by China's Yiheng Wang. But its rankings can be filtered to show only women, and there Yunzhi is now number one. Until September, the best average by a woman was 4.68 seconds, by Qixian Cao, also from China, in May 2026.
According to the China News Service agency, Yunzhi has been practising two to three hours a day for the past year and knows more than 1,300 algorithms.
You can see all the world records, with their videos, on the Rubik's Cube records page. And if this has inspired you, learn with our step-by-step Rubik's Cube solution and time yourself with the timer, which calculates averages just like in competitions.