Rubik’s cube world record broken in 3.13 seconds

Max Park, 21, of the USA broke the Rubik’s Cube world record in an incredible 3.13 seconds on June 11. The feat was achieved on a 3x3x3 cube in a matter of 3.13 seconds, beating Yusheng Du’s time of 3.47 seconds.

Max is a star in the ‘cubing’ world and one of the subjects of a Netflix documentary called Speedcubers. Max who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, learned his skills from his mother who saw his new interest as a way to overcome his impaired motor skills.

This is something Max did with aplomb and quickly progressed to speedcubing and then onto competitions, where he won his second-ever competition.

Now Max has taken a huge chunk out of the former 3x3x3 record in the Pride competition in Long Beach, California. The 3x3x3 is the standard cube, with three squares per side but Max also competes on cubes with more squares per side.

He is world number 1 in most of the categories he competes in from the 3x3x3 right up the 7x7x7 cube ,only missing falling into second place in two categories, where his average times are lower than a rival.

Max Park posted a video of his achievement on his Twitter page saying: “Rubik’s Cube 3×3 World Record (3.13) breaking 4.5 year old record of (3.47)”.

Rubik's Cube 3×3 World Record (3.13) breaking 4.5 year old record of (3.47) #thecubicle #rubiks #spinmaster #thespeedcubers #netflix pic.twitter.com/iNDfwqCLT8

— Max Park (@maxfast23) June 12, 2023

In the video, you can see the way in which Max prepares for his record before he sets his world-beating time. He warms up on a cube he has with him. Then the cube he has to solve is revealed to him and he is given time to pick it up and observe the configuration.

He then places it in front of him on the table which is equipped with sensors. As he picks it up again the clock starts and when he places it down solved the clock stops.

Max seems to know immediately what he has achieved and stands and cheers in wild celebration.  It is an amazing feat that from someone with once highly impaired motor skills, comes this incredible dexterity.

His parents hail Max’s cubing as life-changing for him and hope it can be used to boost acceptance of others on the autistic spectrum. In a statement quoted in USA Today, Max’s father Schwan Park said:

“As parents of an autistic child, we’ve seen firsthand how life-changing cubing has been toward Max’s personal growth. We hope this encourages further acceptance, understanding and appreciation for talents within the autistic community.”

Max Park sums up his attitude and incredible focus in his motto: “Don’t think, just solve”.