Yiheng Wang (; born 16 December 2013) is a Chinese competitive speedcuber who holds the 2nd fastest single solve of 2.77 seconds, and the world record fastest average of 3.51 seconds.https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/333/average? He also holds the second best 2x2x2 average with a time of 0.87 seconds, and the second best 3x3 one-handed single of 5.85 seconds.
Wang became World Cube Association (WCA) World Champion on the 6th of July 2025 with a 4.23 second average.
Career Wang entered his first WCA competition in September 2019, at age five. He won his first competition title in January 2021, at age seven.
In 2023, Wang set his first major record, the 3x3x3 Asian record average at a competition in Singapore, with an average of 4.91 seconds. The previous record of 5.24 seconds had been held by Filipino speedcuber Leo Borromeo. This was the first sub-5 second average in Asia.
On 10 March 2023, at nine years old, Wang set his first 3x3x3 world record average at a competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with an average of 4.69 seconds. The previous record of 4.86 seconds had been held jointly by Max Park and Tymon Kolasiński. Between March 10, 2023 and January 10, 2026 he set 9 consecutive records in the event, lowering the 3x3x3 average world record from 4.86 (which was jointly held by Max Park and Tymon Kolasiński) to 4.69, 4.48, 4.36, 4.25, 4.09, 4.09 (again), 4.05, 4.03, 3.91, and eventually 3.90.
In August 2023, Wang came within 0.01 seconds of winning the 2023 WCA World Championship, finishing in second place behind United States' Max Park and just ahead of Poland's Tymon Kolasiński. Two years later, on July 6, 2025, he became WCA World Champion with a 4.23 second average, finishing ahead of fellow Chinese speedcuber Xuanyi Geng.
Wang's global 3x3x3 dominance peaked in September 2025 when he held the 28 all-time fastest averages, ranging from 4.31 through to 3.90 seconds. As of August 9, 2026, he holds 69 of the top 100 3x3x3 averages. He also has the 2nd fastest 3x3x3 single, at 2.77 seconds.
In February 2025, Wang broke the 3x3x3 world record single, with a time of 3.08 seconds, although this record would be broken later by Xuanyi Geng. On 25 May 2025, Wang set a new 3x3x3 world record average of 3.91 seconds, becoming the first person in history to record a sub-4 second average in official competition.
In June 2026, Wang broke the 3x3x3 world record average, then held by Xuanyi Geng, with a time of 3.51 seconds, beating the previous record by 0.2 seconds. In August 2026, Wang broke the 3x3x3 Asian record single, then also held by Xuanyi Geng, with a time of 2.77 seconds, at the Maoming Open 2026. This was the third ever official sub-3 second single. One day later, at the Zhanjiang Open 2026, Wang broke the 3x3 one-handed Asian record single, with a time of 5.85 seconds. Before the record, he had never gotten a single solve under 8 seconds.
2x2x2 world record average controversies "Sliding" incidents On 22 June 2024 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Wang achieved a world record average of 0.78 seconds on the 2x2x2. However, the manner in which Wang started the competition-standard StackMat timer drew criticism; frame-by-frame analysis of the solves revealed that Wang had touched or even begun turning the puzzle before lifting his hands off the timer in some of the solves, both of which constitute individual two-second penalties. The technique was dubbed "sliding", as it involves sliding the hands forward to greet the puzzle rather than lifting them up, thus temporarily keeping the timer from starting and recording a faster time. Despite possible evidence of regulation violations from frame-by-frame video analysis, however, only full-speed video analysis was considered valid evidence for penalization, due to precedent set in a decision from 2019.
On 27 September 2024, the WCA Regulations Committee (WRC), responsible for deciding on such unresolved and uncovered incidents released a joint statement with the WCA Board of Directors on the matter; while the WRC announced that it would now use frame-by-frame analysis in certain cases such as world records, the Board concluded that Wang's solves "could not be conclusively determined to be in violation of the WCA Regulations, policies, and procedures which are in place at the time of the attempt, and cannot be retroactively applied to previous attempts".
On 11 October 2024, the board publicly returned penalization discretion to the WRC. On 25 October 2024, the WRC announced Wang's solves would be retroactively penalized, changing the result from 0.78 to 3.47 and thus stripping Wang of sole possession of the world record; his second-best average of 0.92 seconds from the same event is identical to the average set by Zayn Khanani of the United States at New Cumberland County 2024, meaning Wang and Khanani jointly held the record until 15 December 2024, when Wang achieved an average of 0.86 seconds.
On 18 March 2025, Wang's 0.86-second average was penalized following a review by the WRC, which determined that three of the five solves involved sliding. As a result, the 2x2x2 world record average reverted to Wang's 0.88-second time set at Hangzhou Open 2024. However, the WRC stated the poor timer starts appeared to be unintentional in this situation.
List of world records +List of world records set by Yiheng Wang3x3x3 CubeSingleAverageCompetitionRoundDate3.51Heifei Cubing League IIIFinal17.06.20263.90Taizhou Open 2025Second round26.07.20253.91Lishui Open 2025Second round25.05.20254.03Xi'an Cherry Blossom 2025Final05.04.20253.08XMUM Cube Open 2025Second round16.02.20254.05Zhengzhou Open 2024Final08.12.20244.09Rubik's WCA Asian Championship 2024First round02.11.20244.09Xuzhou Autumn 2024Final21.09.20244.25Deqing Small Cubes Summer 2024First round25.08.20244.36Philippine Championship 2024First round06.07.20244.48Mofunland Cruise Open 2023Final20.06.20234.69Yong Jun KL Speedcubing 2023Semi Final12.03.20232x2x2 CubeSingleAverageCompetitionRoundDate0.88Hangzhou Open 2024Second round15.12.20240.92Johor Cube Open 2024Second round22.06.20240.93Twist & Fries Johor Bahru 2024Second round24.02.2024
Notable rankings Wang's rankings as of 6 October 2026: EventFormatTime (sec)World RankContinental Rank3×3×3Single2.7742Ao53.51112x2x2Single0.4564Ao50.87213×3×3 one-handedSingle5.8531Ao59.294116PyraminxSingle0.98397Ao51.798222
Notes
References
External links
Yiheng Wang at the World Cube Association