The Weekend Ahead: May 8-10, 2026
Highlighting competitions from around the world of speedcubing.
Welcome back to The Weekend Ahead! This week’s slate brings us a nice mix: a 3x3-focused Madison sendoff, Monkey League Semifinals start, another strong French open, and the return of the Québec Championship.
3x3 in Madison 2026
We are starting in Madison, Wisconsin, with one of the more interesting U.S. competitions of the weekend. 3x3 in Madison 2026 runs May 8-10 at Monona Terrace, and the organizers are calling it the finale of their four-year Madison events series, as well as Wisconsin’s first three-day competition since 2019.
As the name suggests, this one is all about 3x3. The competition includes every official 3x3 event and more, with FMC on Friday and the main 3x3 action building across the weekend.
The main storyline comes at the end of the weekend. This competition will feature one of the first 3x3 Head-to-Head finals under the WCA’s new format. The final is also scheduled to be streamed on the WCA YouTube channel.
That means the fastest 3x3 solvers in the building are especially worth watching. Luke Garrett, Brian Johnson, Ryan Pilat, Zeke Mackay, and Jack Pfeifer headline the 3x3 field, giving the stream plenty of real speed once the bracket gets narrowed down.
Add in unofficial team events like 3x3 Doubles, Team Factory, and Team-Blind, and this one has the makings of a very Madison-style sendoff: serious enough to matter, weird enough to be fun.
Yiheng vs. Teodor: Monkey League Quarterfinals
Monkey League enters its quarterfinal stage this weekend, with the first match scheduled for Saturday, May 9, at 8:00 AM EDT.
The opening quarterfinal features No. 1 seed Yiheng Wang against No. 8 seed Teodor Zajder. Seeding is based on tournament median and win-loss record from the previous stage. Wang enters as the top seed after going 4-0 with a 4.55 tournament median, while Zajder enters as the No. 8 seed with a 5.55 tournament median and a 2-2 record.
The league is expected to conclude with an in-person final sometime in July or August. Videos from the event are available on the LaZer0MonKey YouTube channel.
Longjum’Open 2026
We are next headed to Longjumeau, France, where Longjum’Open 2026 runs May 8-10 at Gymnase Raymond Linder. The competition has a 150-competitor limit and continues the strong local-comp culture we’ve seen from the French scene this year.
This is also a good follow-up from last week’s French slate, because Juliette Sébastien is still one of the biggest names to watch. Sébastien recently set a French national record 8.43 average in 3x3 One-Handed, making OH one of the events to keep an eye on this weekend.
But she’s not the only headline name here. Sebastian Weyer gives the competition serious big-cube weight. As the reigning 4x4 world champion, Weyer is the clear name to watch in 4x4, and he should be a factor in 3x3 as well.
Championnat Québécois 2026
We are also heading north to Québec City for Championnat Québécois 2026, the second Québec Championship organized by Speedcubing Canada. The competition runs May 8-10 at Pavillon Alphonse-Desjardins at Université Laval, with 15 official WCA events, everything except 3x3 Multi-Blind and Fewest Moves.
The title of Québec Champion will be awarded to the highest-ranked Québec competitor in each event, with eligibility based on residency rather than citizenship. That means the story is not just who wins the event overall, but who leaves with the Québec title.
The first Québec 3x3 title went to Kyle Santucci in 2024, when he won with a 6.67 average ahead of Burno Li Chak Kwan and Lucas Kuczaj. Santucci does not appear to be registered this year, but Burno is back and enters as the top-ranked 3x3 solver in the field. William Lavoie is the highest-ranked Canadian registered, making him a key name in the Québec title race, with Albert Theriault and Louis-Alex Tremblay also among the Canadian names to watch