People · South Africa
Damian Jansen
3×3 · top 3.9% of 284,439 all-time · competing since November 2016 · 2016JANS05
Damian Jansen has been competing for 10 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.59, set at Cubestuff Q4 Zwartkop 2025, puts him in the top 3.9% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 36th in South Africa. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 15 competitions since November 2016, he has put 360 official solves on the record across seven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 63% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 26.91 in November 2016 to 8.59, a 68% improvement. Damian has entered 15 competitions, more competitions than 95% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8.59 | 9.29 | top 3.9% | 36 / 2,164 | |
| 2×2 | 2.50 | 4.82 | top 8.9% | 86 / 1,510 | |
| 4×4 | 1:01.74 | 1:12.62 | top 38.3% | 131 / 491 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 28.65 | 33.73 | top 43.5% | 126 / 467 | |
| Pyraminx | 9.93 | 16.83 | top 52.4% | 420 / 946 | |
| 5×5 | 3:24.30 | 3:42.63 | top 85.1% | 160 / 221 | |
| Megaminx | 6:56.05 | — | early days — 3 solves | 263 / 266 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 16 Jun 2023First sub-10 3×3: 8.93 at CubingZA National Championship 2023.
- 16 Jun 2023Three personal bests in one day at CubingZA National Championship 2023.
- 11 Feb 2023Three personal bests in one day at Crazy Cubing Centurion 2023.
- 24 Sep 2022First sub-15 3×3: 13.40 at Inni-Horie-Fees Speedcubing 2022.
- 24 Sep 2022Four personal bests in one day at Inni-Horie-Fees Speedcubing 2022.
- 17 May 2019Four personal bests in one day at Arnold Classic Africa 2019.
Competitions
- Cubestuff Q4 Zwartkop 2025 · 29 Nov 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubestuff Challenge Centurion Q3 2024 · 20 Jul 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Pretoria Spring Morning 2023 · 25 Nov 2023
- CubingZA National Championship 2023 · 16 Jun 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- Crazy Cubing Centurion 2023 · 11 Feb 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- Just Cube Joburg 2022 · 12 Nov 2022 — 2 personal bests set
- Rubik's WCA African Championship 2022 · 7 Oct 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Inni-Horie-Fees Speedcubing 2022 · 24 Sep 2022 — 4 personal bests set
- Arnold Classic Africa 2019 · 17 May 2019 — 4 personal bests set
- Gauteng Summer 2019 · 5 Jan 2019 — 3 personal bests set
- Arnold Classic Africa 2018 · 18 May 2018
- Gauteng Autumn 2018 · 24 Mar 2018
- Big 'n Weird Pretoria 2017 · 30 Sep 2017 — 1 personal best set
- Speedcubes Johannesburg 2017 · 10 Sep 2017 — 4 personal bests set
- Johannesburg 2016 · 27 Nov 2016 — 1 personal best set
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.
- Ruben Grobler — met in 68 rounds, never finished ahead
- Brendan James Gray — met in 53 rounds, finished ahead 17 times
- Marike Faught — met in 52 rounds, finished ahead 17 times
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 0.59 away.
- A sub-2 2×2 single — 8,848 people have one; it is 0.50 away.
Targets move as he improves.