People · Australia
Gareth Mao (毛子谦)
3×3 · top 3.3% of 288,433 all-time · competing since March 2024 · 2024MAOG01
Gareth Mao (毛子谦) has been competing for 3 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.28, set at Spark Melbourne Autumn Saturday 2026, puts him in the top 3.3% of the 288,433 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 324th in Australia. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 12 competitions since March 2024, he has put 181 official solves on the record across four events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 10% around a typical one, steadier than 93% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. That figure sets aside his 9 DNFs. His 3×3 best has come down from 31.76 in March 2024 to 8.28, a 74% improvement. Gareth has entered twelve competitions, more competitions than 94% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | Australia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8.28 | 9.81 | top 3.3% | 324 / 11,943 | |
| 2×2 | 3.23 | 4.90 | top 17.0% | 1,307 / 8,727 | |
| Megaminx | 2:05.54 | 2:39.67 | top 49.1% | 611 / 1,313 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 51.28 | — | early days — 1 solve | 1,944 / 2,685 |
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
- 27 Sep 2025First sub-10 3×3: 9.47 at Puzzling Pakenham Saturday 2025.
- 19 Dec 2024First sub-15 3×3: 11.01 at Rubik's WCA Oceanic Championship 2024.
- 20 Jul 2024First sub-30 3×3: 18.36 at The Big Cube Melbourne 2024.
- 20 Jul 2024First sub-20 3×3: 18.36 at The Big Cube Melbourne 2024.
- 23 Mar 2024First competition: Cubing at The Game Expo 2024. A 31.76 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Beijing Autumn Rivalry 2026 · 1 Oct 2026
- Australian Nationals 2026 · 9 Jul 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Spark Melbourne Autumn Saturday 2026 · 23 May 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Australian Nationals 2025 · 2 Oct 2025
- Puzzling Pakenham Saturday 2025 · 27 Sep 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Spark Melbourne July 2025 · 26 Jul 2025 — 1 personal best set
- VIC State Championship 2025 · 31 May 2025
- Spark Melbourne February 2025 · 22 Feb 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Melbourne Summer 2025 · 24 Jan 2025
- Rubik's WCA Oceanic Championship 2024 · 19 Dec 2024 — 1 personal best set
- The Big Cube Melbourne 2024 · 20 Jul 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubing at The Game Expo 2024 · 23 Mar 2024
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.
- Riley Dexter — met in 33 rounds, never finished ahead
- Ryan Deng — met in 32 rounds, finished ahead 6 times
- Benjamin Kao — met in 31 rounds, never finished ahead
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 8,101 people have one; it is 0.28 away.
- A sub-3 2×2 single — 27,049 people have one; it is 0.23 away.
Targets move as he improves.