Yiheng Wang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wang Yiheng
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 16 December 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Chinese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Rubik's Cube speedsolving | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 王藝衡 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 王艺衡 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yiheng Wang (Chinese: 王艺衡; pinyin: Wáng Yìhéng; born 16 December 2013) is a Chinese competitive speedcuber. A speedcuber is someone who solves puzzles like the Rubik's Cube as fast as possible.
Yiheng Wang currently holds the world record for the average time to solve a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube, which is 3.90 seconds. He also has the second fastest single solve time at 3.06 seconds. For the smaller 2×2×2 cube, also known as the Pocket Cube, he holds the world record average with a time of 0.88 seconds.
On July 6, 2025, Yiheng Wang became the World Cube Association (WCA) World Champion. He won with an average solve time of 4.23 seconds.
Contents
Yiheng Wang's Speedcubing Journey
Yiheng Wang started competing in the WCA in September 2019. He was only five years old at the time. He won his first competition title in January 2021, when he was seven.
Setting New Records
On March 10, 2023, when he was nine years old, Yiheng Wang set his first world record. This happened at a competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He achieved a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube average of 4.69 seconds. This beat the old record of 4.86 seconds, which was held by Max Park and Tymon Kolasiński.
Since then, Yiheng Wang has continued to break his own records. As of July 27, 2025, he has set 9 new world records in a row for the 3×3×3 average. He has lowered the record from 4.86 seconds all the way down to 3.90 seconds.
World Championship Success
In August 2023, Yiheng Wang almost won the 2023 WCA World Championship. He finished in second place, just 0.01 seconds behind America's Max Park. Poland's Tymon Kolasiński was right behind him.
Two years later, on July 6, 2025, Yiheng Wang achieved his dream. He became the WCA World Champion with a 4.23-second average. He finished ahead of another talented Chinese speedcuber, Xuanyi Geng.
Dominance in 3×3×3 Solving
By December 2024, Yiheng Wang showed how dominant he was in 3×3×3 solving. He held the 29 fastest average times ever recorded. These times ranged from 4.73 seconds down to 4.05 seconds. As of July 2025, he holds 82 of the top 100 fastest 3×3×3 averages. He also has the second fastest single solve time for the 3×3×3, which is 3.06 seconds.
Yiheng Wang also holds the world record for the 2×2×2 cube average. His record time is 0.88 seconds.
2×2×2 World Record Discussions
There have been some discussions about Yiheng Wang's 2×2×2 world record average times.
The "Sliding" Technique
On June 22, 2024, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Yiheng Wang achieved a world record average of 0.78 seconds for the 2×2×2 cube. However, some people noticed how he started the timer. When using a competition timer, you must lift your hands off the timer completely before touching the puzzle. Some videos showed that Yiheng Wang might have touched or started turning the puzzle before fully lifting his hands. This technique was called "sliding." It could make the timer start later, leading to a faster recorded time. If this happened, it would mean a two-second penalty for each solve.
At first, only full-speed video analysis was used to decide if a rule was broken. This was based on a decision from 2019. So, even with frame-by-frame video showing possible issues, no penalties were given at that time.
WCA Committee Decisions
On September 27, 2024, the WCA Regulations Committee (WRC) and the WCA Board of Directors made a statement. They announced that the WRC would now use frame-by-frame analysis for certain cases, like world records. However, the Board said that Yiheng Wang's solves from June 2024 could not be proven to have broken the rules that were in place at that specific time. They decided not to apply new rules to past attempts.
Later, on October 11, 2024, the WCA Board gave the WRC the power to decide on penalties again. On October 25, 2024, the WRC announced that Yiheng Wang's solves from June 2024 would be penalized. His 0.78-second average changed to 3.47 seconds. This meant he no longer held that world record alone. His second-best average from that event, 0.92 seconds, was then shared with Zayn Khanani of the United States. This joint record lasted until December 15, 2024, when Yiheng Wang achieved a new average of 0.86 seconds.
On March 18, 2025, Yiheng Wang's 0.86-second average was also reviewed and penalized by the WRC. They found that three of his five solves involved the "sliding" technique. Because of this, the 2×2×2 world record average went back to Yiheng Wang's 0.88-second time. He had set this record at the Hangzhou Open 2024. The WRC noted that in this case, the timer starts seemed to be accidental.
See also
In Spanish: Yiheng Wang para niños
