He Struggled With Motor Skill Problems, But Now He Has Set A New Rubik’s Cube Record

Breaking a world record is a challenge for anyone, but for 21-year-old Max Park, it was the dream of a lifetime.

Ever since Max was 9 years old, he has been solving the Rubik’s cube. As a child diagnosed with autism, it was given to him, not for competition, but for dexterity.

12 years later, he found himself at the World Cube Association event on June 11, held in Long Beach California. He was able to unscramble a Rubik’s cube in only 3.13 seconds.

His father, Schwan Park, was there to witness his son break the record and celebrated along with him. In an interview with Guinness World Records, he spoke about how Max was first given a Rubik’s cube to help with his fine motor skills.

When Max was younger, he had difficulty doing many things with his hands. He couldn’t open a bottle or hold something in his fingers.

When they put the cube in front of him, however, he just took it and ran with it. To him, it was more than an exercise to strengthen his fingers; he was legitimately good at solving the puzzle almost right away.

He started competing at the age of 10. His parents thought it would be good for helping him socialize, but they had no idea he would take it this far.

It wasn’t long before he started winning competitions, and since then, he has gone on to set records for the 4×4×4, 5×5×5, 6×6×6, and 7×7×7 cubes, and now, the new 3x3x3 record.

If Max seems familiar to you, it may be because of the Netflix documentary, “The Speed Cubers” from 2020. He was featured in that documentary.

Prior to Max setting a new record, the old record stood for five years. It was set by China’s Yusheng Du, when he solved the cube in 3.47 seconds.