[Interview] Tommy Cherry Breaks 3BLD World Record With First Sub-14 Average

Cherry’s 13.97 at Hefei August Open 2026 moves him ahead of Charlie Eggins after the two shared the previous record, and he spoke with Speedcuber’s Digest about the breakthrough.

Tommy Cherry broke the 3x3 Blindfolded world record average with a time of 13.97 seconds, becoming the first person to break the 14-second average barrier.

The result was achieved in the final at Hefei August Open 2026.

Previously, Cherry was tied at 14.05 with Charlie Eggins, better known in the cubing community as “Cheggins.” Cherry’s 14.05 came under the old mean-of-three format at Rubik’s WCA European Championship 2024, while Eggins matched the record under the newer average-of-five format at Cubing at The Cube 2026.

The 13.97 moves Cherry back ahead and is his first 3BLD average PR under the average-of-five format. It is also his first world record average since European Championship 2024 and comes less than two months after his 11.56 world record single at Mid-Atlantic Quiet Championship 2026.

The times in his average were: 13.68, 14.48, (13.60), 13.75, (13.87+2=15.87).

Without the +2, the average would have been 13.77, showing how much faster the result could have been.

The last solve of his World Record Avergae can be seen here:

Speedcuber’s Digest asked Cherry questions about the record, the new format and what went into the result.

Q: How do you feel breaking the 14-second average barrier?

A: I’m absolutely ecstatic to break the sub-14 average barrier. Been chasing after this one for years.

Q: What was going through your mind as you were solving on WR pace?

A: When I was solving on WR pace during that fourth solve to clinch the average, my thought was basically just “please don’t have a big lockup”. That’s genuinely all I was consciously thinking about during execution. During the memo of that solve, I don’t remember thinking about anything besides the memo itself.

Q: How will this affect your practice and training for 3BLD and other events?

A: Honestly it probably won’t have a very big effect on my practice lol, about the same as before.

Q: What do you want to say to the cubing community, and any shoutouts you want to give?

A: I want to say thanks to the cubing community for the support as always, especially to my sponsors MoYu and TheCubicle, and all the cubers with me at the competition in China who have been greatly supportive, enjoyable to hang out with, and graceful in welcoming me back to their country while I visit on summer break before heading back to college!

Q: What do you want to say to the rest of the competition, specifically Charlie Eggins?

A: I wish the best of luck to other competitors chasing after the World Record, including Charlie Eggins, a great friend of mine.

Q: How do you feel about the new average-of-five format versus the mean-of-three format now that you have gotten WRs in both formats?

A: With the Ao5 format, I’m glad to have more chances for good singles. It’s hard to say how this change in format affects my nerves and solving overall because I feel like it has a different effect depending on the comp/circumstances. Mindset-wise, it’s mostly just a neutral acceptance of “these are the new rules of the game to play by now”.

Q: What do you think was the biggest thing in your practice that helped you break this?

A: I think the biggest thing in my practice to help me break this was applying the correct amount of Cubicle Gravitas lube in the right places to my Weilong V10! Hardware is genuinely so important at this level, and sub-optimal application of lube can ruin even a great cube. A lot of problems I experience when practicing are often resolved once I find the right level of lube.