Henry Lichner became the 10th person in WCA history to record a sub-40 5x5 average.
Timofei Tarasenko became the second person to break one minute in an official 6x6 solve, recording a 59.93 European record.
Kevin Gerhardt won his third straight German 3x3 title, while Nicholas Archer stopped James Alonso from completing the same run in the UK.
In Slovenia, Oskar Vidiček defended the national 3x3 title and swept every big cube event.
Yiheng Wang also returned to WCA competition after his Monkey League comeback and won both 3x3 and 2x2.
Welcome back to the Speedcuber’s Digest Weekend Wrap, where we look back at the biggest results and storylines from the weekend.
Henry Lichner Becomes 10th Person to Break 40 in 5x5 Average
Henry produced one of the weekend’s biggest milestone at 4x4 Off US-40 IL 2026 in Casey, Illinois.
His five solves in the 5x5 final were:
39.35, (31.98), (44.37), 39.41, 39.52 = 39.43 average
The average made Henry the 10th person to break 40 seconds in official competition. It ranks No. 10 in the world and No. 2 in the United States, behind only Max Park.
Henry entered the weekend with a 40.32 personal best from the 2025 WCA World Championship. He improved it by 0.89 seconds, with all three counting solves under 40.
The average also included a 31.98 single, which improved his previous best by 4.22 seconds.
That solve ranks No. 7 in the world and No. 2 in the United States. It also made Henry the seventh person to break 32 seconds in official competition.
Read the full story about Henry’s 5x5 breakthrough.
Timofei Tarasenko Becomes Second Person to Break One Minute in 6x6
Timofei recorded a 59.93 European record single at Paradise Place Thailand Cube Open 2026 in Bangkok.
The result came on his third solve of the opening round and moved him to world No. 2, ahead of Seung Hyuk Nahm’s 1:00.40.
It also lowered Timofei’s European record by 0.50 seconds. He had set the previous record of 1:00.43 in Kuala Lumpur one week earlier.
Max Park remains the only other person with an official sub-1 6x6 single. Max has broken one minute three times, making Timofei’s 59.93 the fourth-fastest official result ever.
Timofei later broke the barrier again in finals of the same competition, recording a 59.51.
He also holds the 6x6 mean world record at 1:03.63, which he set in Kuala Lumpur less than one week earlier.
Read the full story about Timofei’s sub-1 solve.
Kevin Gerhardt Completes German Three-Peat
Kevin won his third consecutive German 3x3 title at Rubik’s German Nationals 2026.
His final average was:
5.98, 7.32, (8.37), 5.90, (5.89) = 6.40 average
Kevin finished 0.23 seconds ahead of Sebastian Weyer, who placed second with a 6.63 average. Imanuel Müller was third at 6.82.
Philipp Weyer, the top seed entering the competition, finished sixth at 7.11.
Kevin’s title followed victories with a 6.48 average in 2024 and a 6.63 average in 2025. His 6.40 this year was the fastest of the three championship averages.
He also reached five other podiums. Kevin placed second in 2x2, second in 4x4, third in 5x5, third in Megaminx and second in Skewb.
But the biggest result came in 3x3, where he became German champion for the third straight year despite entering behind three sub-5.9 competitors on the psych sheet.
Nicholas Archer Stops James Alonso’s UK Three-Peat
Nicholas won the 3x3 title at Kewbz UK Championship 2026, ending James Alonso’s run of two straight national championships.
Nicholas recorded:
(8.15), 6.37, 6.36, (5.95), 6.30 = 6.34 average
James finished second with a 6.96 average, while Johnny Morello Kerlaff placed third at 7.06.
The result gave Nicholas a personal-best average and returned him to the top of the UK 3x3 podium.
James still left Birmingham with a national title. He won 2x2 with a 1.62 average, beating Harry Allen on the single-solve tiebreak after both finished with the same average.
Nicholas added another victory in 3x3 One-Handed, where he won with an 8.64 average.
Yiheng Wang Wins Twice in His WCA Return
Yiheng returned to official competition at Ulanqab Small Cubes 2026, after coming back from a 4-1 deficit to win the Monkey League Season 6 championship.
He won the 3x3 final with:
4.54, (4.77), 4.27, (3.82), 4.48 = 4.43 average
Yiheng also recorded a 4.43 average in the first round, giving him two averages at the same winning mark in one day.
Yufang Du finished second in the final at 5.12, and Lingkun Jiang placed third at 5.75.
Yiheng also won 2x2 with a 0.98 average in the final. His fastest average of the event was 0.90 in the first round.
Oskar Vidiček Defends Slovenian Title and Sweeps Big Cubes
Oskar finished fourth overall in the 3x3 final at Slovenian Nationals 2026, but his 7.75 average was the fastest by a Slovenian competitor.
That made him the national champion for the second straight year.
Dávid Szabó won the competition overall with a 6.52 average. Gergő Zalán Molnár followed at 6.57, and Daniel Sartori finished third at 7.01.
Oskar’s title-winning average was 1.20 seconds faster than the 8.95 he recorded to win in 2025. Former champion Marcel Ručigaj finished as the second Slovenian competitor at 8.52.
Oskar also won every big cube event:
4x4: 26.56 average
5x5: 48.36 average
6x6: 1:28.99 mean
7x7: 2:22.48 mean
The 4x4 and 5x5 averages were Slovenian records. Oskar also set Slovenian records with both a 1:21.36 single and the 1:28.99 mean in 6x6.