Feliks Aleksanders Zemdegs[1] (/ˈfɛlɪksˈzɛmdɛɡz/, Latvian: Fēlikss Zemdegs; born 20 December 1995) is an AustralianRubik's Cubespeedsolver. 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5]
Biography
Feliks Zemdegs is of Latvian descent, and his maternal grandmother is Lithuanian.[6] Zemdegs bought his first speedcube in April 2008 after being inspired by speedcubing videos and tutorials on YouTube.[7] The first unofficial time he recorded was an average of 19.73 seconds on 14 June 2008.[8]
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 speed solving videos.[9]
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.[10][11] Zemdegs has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, majoring in economics, with a breadth study track in mechanical engineering.[12]
As of March 2024[update], Zemdegs' YouTube channel has more than 479,000 subscribers.[13]
In 2020, Zemdegs was one of the primary subjects of the Netflix documentary The Speed Cubers.[14]
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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]
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.[18]
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.[19]
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.[20]
At the World Championship 2019 in Melbourne, Zemdegs only placed in the top three in one event, getting third in 5x5x5.[21]
On 5 June 2021, Zemdegs lost his last world record (his 5.53 3x3x3 average) to Chinese speedcuber Ruihang Xu.[22]
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.[23]
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.[24]
