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The Middle Three
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People · United States

Joel Kim

2×2 · top 0.24% of 186,767 all-time · competing since November 2021 · 2021KIMJ03

Joel Kim has been competing for 5 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 0.81, set at UCSD Winter 2023, puts him in the top 0.24% of the 186,767 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 103rd in the United States. Until November 2011, no official 2×2 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 67 competitions since November 2021, he has put 2,200 official solves on the record across 14 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 15% around a typical one; 86% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 14.92 in November 2021 to 6.01, a 60% improvement. Joel has entered 67 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

2×2
best event — top 0.24% of 186,767 all-time
0.81
signature single · UCSD Winter 2023
2,200
official solves on the record
15%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 86% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
2×20.812.11
top 0.24%103 / 40,951
3×36.017.53
top 0.49%324 / 59,724
Pyraminx1.782.81
top 0.8%234 / 28,708
Skewb1.793.60
top 0.9%138 / 18,907
Clock4.105.45
top 2.5%216 / 8,927
3×3 one-handed12.7416.85
top 4.0%587 / 15,683
Square-110.6215.12
top 7.2%527 / 6,743
Megaminx1:04.191:09.32
top 12.2%829 / 7,841
4×442.1948.87
top 14.7%2,204 / 19,072
3×3 Fewest Moves32 moves37.33
top 20.4%446 / 2,040
5×51:30.691:38.86
top 27.9%2,189 / 9,401
6×62:54.583:14.71
top 38.3%1,387 / 4,196
7×75:34.155:41.11
top 60.9%1,817 / 3,184
3×3 Multi-Blind2 of 4 cubes · 33:45—
early days — 1 solve712 / 731

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

CalPoly SLO Fall 2021: 14.92Westview Winter B 2021: 13.25San Diego Spring 2022: 10.79Long Beach Spring 2022: 11.28Circle City Summer 2022: 7.54Marshall Middle Slice 2022: 9.60Marshall Cubing September 2022: 9.62WCC Western Championship 2022: 7.80Circle City Supercharged 2022: 8.69San Diego's Final Cube-Down 2022: 8.50Chula Vista Winter 2023: 8.22Oak Valley Winter B 2023: 7.72Marshall Cubing Spring 2023: 9.89UCSD Spring 2023: 8.11UCSD For Hemophilia 2023: 8.44Poway Summer Cubing 2023: 8.20Agoura Cubing Again 2023: 8.99Santa Ana Summer A 2023: 8.10Corona Summer 2023: 8.31UCSD Unofficial Events 2023: 7.63UCSD Extravaganza 2023: 8.52Agoura SpookCubing 2023: 7.95Thankful for Cubing RPV 2023: 7.78UCSD Winter 2023: 6.28UCSD Winter 2024: 9.84Poway Cubing Winter 2024: 8.10Orange County Newcomers 2024: 8.40Westview Cubing Favorites 2024: 8.87Agoura Cubing Returns 2024: 8.43Bay Area Speedcubin' 63 - Atherton 2024: 7.92Nub Open Mission Viejo Summer 2024: 6.79CubingUSA Western Championship 2024: 8.25Super Duper San Diego 2024: 7.30UCSD Fall 2024: 8.02SoCal Speedcubing at Super STEM Saturday 2025: 7.28UCSD May A 2025: 8.01Let's Cube Long Beach 2025: 7.26Westview Cubing Favorites 2025: 7.82West Coast Cubing Tour: San Diego 2025: 6.95Rubik's WCA World Championship 2025: 7.51Vegas Cubing Cup Summer 2025: 7.78Baja Warm Up I 2025: 7.95Mission Viejo Fall 2025: 6.57UCSD Unofficial Events 2025: 7.95Huntington Park Winter 2025: 6.96Temecula Valley Winter 2025: 6.91Super Duper San Diego 2026: 6.01UCSD March A 2026: 6.80UCSD TritoNxN 2026: 6.21UCSD Weeknights IX 2026: 6.57West Coast Cubing Western Championship 2026: 8.19Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2026: 7.87Temecula Valley Summer 2026: 6.39Temecula Valley Back To School 2026: 8.376.0114.9220 Nov 202122 Aug 2026

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

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.

  • Shane Grogan — met in 274 rounds, finished ahead 122 times
  • Dominic Shoji — met in 249 rounds, finished ahead 109 times
  • Alex Lehman — met in 230 rounds, finished ahead 157 times

Next targets

  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 0.01 away.
  • A sub-1 Pyraminx single — 49 people have one; it is 0.78 away.

Targets move as he improves.