The 3x3 single world record is 2.51, set by Xuanyi Geng of China at Guangzhou Grand Open 2026 on 4–5 October. We could not confirm any new record this week, so that number is still the one every cuber on the planet is chasing.

The CubingUSA New England Championship ended on 18 October, but its results are not up yet. So this week we look at where the records stand and what the year's big championships told us.

Geng's 2.51 is still the number to beat

A single is one solve, as opposed to an average, which takes several. Geng's 2.51 beat the previous single record of 2.76, held by Teodor Zajder of Poland. That is a drop of 0.25 seconds, in a range where most of us would struggle to even track the moves.

If you average 20 seconds, watch this solve twice. Once at full speed, then slowed down, and count how many moves happen before you would have finished inspecting your own cube.

The record appears on Wikipedia's list of speedcubing world records, which was current as of 6 October. It shows nothing newer, but that list predates this week, so it can't tell us what happened since.

New England Championship: results still loading

CubingUSA New England Championship 2026 ran from 16 to 18 October at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. The WCA page says the competition is over and that the team is "working to upload the results as soon as possible."

That means no confirmed podiums, champions or records yet. The page links to Cubing Contests for live results, but none were showing when we checked.

One warning if you visit the page: the champions listed there are from the separate New England Quiet Championship on 18 July. Joey Mait's blindfold wins and Elliot Wiecek's Fewest Moves title belong to that event, not this one.

What this year's championships told us

The 3x3 field is deep, and the 2026 championships show it. At the Rubik's WCA European Championship in Arnhem, the Netherlands (16–19 July), Zajder won the 3x3 with a 5.46 average. An average is the result across a full round of solves, so it rewards consistency as much as speed.

Valerio Locatelli was second with 5.74, and Tymon Kolasiński third with 5.90. Less than half a second separated the three of them.

At the WCA South American Championship in Bogotá, Colombia (12–15 June), Caio Hideaki Sato won the 3x3 with a 6.11 average.

Then there is Yiheng Wang of China. As of 9 October, he held 67 of the top 100 3x3 averages in history. That is a statistic rather than a headline, but it says plenty about how consistently he performs.

Quick hits

Sources