# Feliks Zemdegs

Feliks Aleksanders Zemdegs (/ˈfɛlɪks ˈzɛmdɛɡz/, Latvian: Fēlikss Zemdegs; born 20 December 1995) is an Australian Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is one of only two speedcubers ever to win the World Cube Association World Championship twice (the other being Max Park), winning in 2013 and 2015, and is widely considered the most successful and greatest speedcuber of all time. He has set more than 350 records across various speedcubing events: 121 world records (being the only cuber to have more than 100), 216 continental records, and 7 national records.

## Biography

Feliks Zemdegs is of Latvian descent, and his maternal grandmother is Lithuanian. Zemdegs bought his first speedcube in April 2008 after being inspired by speedcubing videos and tutorials on YouTube. The first unofficial time he recorded was an average of 19.73 seconds on 14 June 2008.
Zemdegs has a website, CubeSkills, which includes tutorials on solving the Rubik's Cube and other puzzles. There are free algorithm sheets and speedsolving tutorial videos. The site also offers a premium membership which enables access to advanced speedsolving videos.
Zemdegs attended St Kevin's College, Toorak, and graduated in 2013 with a perfect study score in VCE English and an ATAR of 99.90. Zemdegs has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, majoring in economics, with a breadth study track in mechanical engineering.
As of January 2025, Zemdegs' YouTube channel has more than 478,000 subscribers.
In 2020, Zemdegs was one of the primary subjects of the Netflix documentary The Speed Cubers.

## Career

Zemdegs won the 3×3×3 event at the first competition he attended, the New Zealand Championships 2009 on 18 July 2009, with an average of 13.74 seconds in the final round. He also won 2×2×2, 4×4×4, 5×5×5, 3×3×3 blindfolded, and 3×3×3 one-handed. He set 11 Oceanic records at this competition.
At his next competition, the Melbourne Summer Open 2010 on 30 January 2010, Zemdegs set his first world records for 3×3×3 average and 4×4×4 average, with times of 9.21 seconds and 42.01 seconds, respectively. He held the 3×3×3 average world record continuously from then until 23 April, 2017, improving it 8 times, eventually to 6.45 seconds. The most world records he has held at one time is 12 in May 2011. As recently as 28 January, 2017, he held 11 of those records concurrently.
At the World Championship 2011 in Bangkok, Zemdegs won 2×2×2, 4×4×4, 5×5×5, and 6×6×6. He also took third in 3×3×3 after winning the first three rounds and placed third in 7×7×7.
At the World Championship 2013 in Las Vegas, Zemdegs won 3×3×3, 4×4×4, and 3×3×3 One-handed. He also placed second in 5×5×5 and third in 7×7×7.
At the World Championship 2015 in São Paulo, Zemdegs won 3×3×3, 2×2×2, 4×4×4, and 5×5×5. He also placed second in 6×6×6, 7×7×7, and Megaminx.
At the World Championship 2017 in Paris, Zemdegs won 5×5×5 and 7×7×7. He also took second in 6×6×6, 3×3×3 One-handed, and Megaminx, and placed third in 4×4×4.
At the World Championship 2019 in Melbourne, Zemdegs only placed in the top three in one event, getting third in 5x5x5.
On 5 June 2021, Zemdegs lost his last world record (his 5.53 3x3x3 average) to Chinese speedcuber Ruihang Xu.
At the World Championship 2023 in Incheon, Zemdegs failed to place top 3 in any event and did not make the semi-finals in the 3x3x3 event, his first time failing to do so since beginning in 2011.
Zemdegs is currently ranked 17th in the world for 3x3x3 average with a result of 5.53, set in 2019 and 27th in the world for 3x3x3 single, with a result of 4.16, set in 2020.

## World records

World records by Zemdegs.
| Event | Type | First world record | Latest world record | Total |
| 3×3×3 | Single | 7.03s Melbourne Cube Day 2010 13 November | 4.22s Cube For Cambodia 2018 6 May | 10 |
| 3×3×3 | Average | 9.21s Melbourne Summer Open 2010 30 January | 5.53s Odd Day in Sydney 2019 10 November | 13 |
| 2×2×2 | Average | 2.35s Asian Championship 2010 9–10 October | 2.12s Melbourne Cube Day 2010 13 November | 2 |
| 4×4×4 | Single | 35.55s New Zealand Champs 2010 10 July | 19.36s LatAm Tour – Arequipa 2017 22 June | 12 |
| 4×4×4 | Average | 42.01s Melbourne Summer Open 2010 30 January | 25.97s Adelaide Summer 2017 21 January | 7 |
| 5×5×5 | Single | 1:02.93 Australian Nationals 2010 4–5 September | 37.93s Canberra Autumn 2018 21–22 April | 16 |
| 5×5×5 | Average | 1:07.59 Australian Nationals 2010 4–5 September | 43.21s Melbourne Cube Days 2017 18–19 November | 21 |
| 6×6×6 | Single | 2:05.88 Melbourne Summer 2011 29–30 January | 1:20.03 World Championship 2017 13–16 July | 6 |
| 6×6×6 | Average | 2:15.64 Melbourne Summer 2011 29–30 January | 1:27.79 World Championship 2017 13–16 July | 8 |
| 7×7×7 | Single | 2:23.55 World Championship 2015 17–19 July | 2:06.73 World Championship 2017 13–16 July | 5 |
| 7×7×7 | Average | 2:52.09 Australian Nationals 2013 7–8 September | 2:14.04 China's 10th Anniversary 2017 1–2 October | 11 |
| 3×3×3 One-handed | Single | 11.16s Kubaroo Open 2011 7 May | 6.88s Canberra Autumn 2015 9–10 May | 4 |
| 3×3×3 One-handed | Average | 14.76s Australian Nationals 2010 4–5 September | 10.21s Malaysia Cube Open 2017 14–15 October | 5 |
| 4×4×4 Blindfolded | Single | 3:37.80 Melbourne Summer 2011 29–30 January | 3:37.80 Melbourne Summer 2011 29–30 January | 1 |

## Official personal records

Listed below are Zemdegs' personal records achieved in official World Cube Association competitions as of January 2025.
| Event | Type | Time | Competition |
| 3x3x3 | Single | 4.16 | Auckland Summer Open 2020 |
| 3x3x3 | Average | 5.53 | Odd Day in Sydney 2019 |
| 2x2x2 | Single | 0.71 | Rijswijk Open 2018 |
| 2x2x2 | Average | 1.45 | Melbourne Cube Days 2023 |
| 4x4x4 | Single | 17.98 | Altona Algorithms Attempt 2 2021 |
| 4x4x4 | Average | 21.57 | Altona Algorithms Attempt 2 2021 |
| 5x5x5 | Single | 36.37 | Palais Open 2024 |
| 5x5x5 | Average | 40.51 | Melbourne Summer 2025 |
| 6x6x6 | Single | 1:15.69 | Melbourne Summer 2024 |
| 6x6x6 | Average | 1:21.44 | Melbourne Summer 2025 |
| 7x7x7 | Single | 1:49.12 | Weston-super-Mare Autumn 2024 |
| 7x7x7 | Average | 2:00.63 | Australian Nationals 2018 |
| 3x3x3 Blindfolded | Single | 34.37 | Odd Day in Sydney 2019 |
| 3x3x3 Blindfolded | Average | 47.13 | Ugine Jeu et Jouet 2018 |
| 3x3x3 Fewest Moves | Single | 24 | Koalafication Sydney 2019 |
| 3x3x3 Fewest Moves | Average | 27.33 | Canberra Autumn 2015 |
| 3x3x3 One-handed | Single | 6.88 | Canberra Autumn 2015 |
| 3x3x3 One-handed | Average | 9.60 | Melbourne Cube Days 2023 |
| Clock | Single | 8.81 | Australian Nationals 2011 |
| Clock | Average | 11.80 | Australian Nationals 2011 |
| Megaminx | Single | 33.11 | CubingUSA Nationals 2018 |
| Megaminx | Average | 36.65 | Weston-super-Mare Open 2018 |
| Pyraminx | Single | 2.27 | Perth Autumn 2018 |
| Pyraminx | Average | 4.20 | Melbourne Summer 2022 |
| Skewb | Single | 2.20 | Melbourne Summer 2021 |
| Skewb | Average | 5.08 | Sydney Re-Open Saturday 2021 |
| Square-1 | Single | 8.99 | Adelaide Summer 2018 |
| Square-1 | Average | 12.58 | CubingUSA Nationals 2018 |
| 4x4x4 Blindfolded | Single | 3:37.80 | Melbourne Summer Open 2011 |
| 5x5x5 Blindfolded | Single | 11:56.00 | Adelaide Summer 2018 |
| 3x3x3 Multi-Blind | Single | 11/11 47:01 | Adelaide Summer 2018 |

## Media appearances

* 2 June 2009 – Herald Sun article (Australia)
* 3 June 2009 – Channel 9 Today program (Australia)
* 18 July 2009 – TVNZ 1 News (New Zealand)
* 20 July 2009 – The Dominion Post article (New Zealand)
* 21 January 2010 – Stonnington Leader article (Australia)
* 17 July 2010 – The Australian newspaper article (Australia)
* 21 July 2010 – Herald Sun article (Australia)
* 26 July 2010 – The Sydney Morning Herald video (Australia)
* 27 July 2010 – The Age article (Australia)
* 6 September 2010 – Melbourne Leader article (Australia)
* 9 November 2010 – Test Australia: The National IQ Test solving demonstration
* 16 November 2010 – Ninemsn article (Australia)
* 19 November 2010 – Yahoo News video (United States)
* 2 June 2011 – ABC Catalyst video (Australia)
* 9 February 2012 – The New York Times article (United States)
* 30 November 2012 – 92.5 Gold FM interview (Australia)
* 3 May 2014 – The Guardian article (Great Britain)
* 27 November 2014 – IOL South Africa
* 23 July 2015 – Huffington Post (United States)
* 11 September 2015 – Sydney Morning Herald
* 25 March 2016 – The Brain (China) game show
* 27 August 2017 – Little Big Shots show (Australia)
* 29 July 2020 – The Speed Cubers - Netflix Documentary
* 11 December 2021 – The Guardian Rubik's Cube's second coming (Great Britain)
* 2 October 2022 - Perthnow article