Max Park reclaims 4x4x4 average world record with 18.74 at Mission Viejo Fall 2025

On October 12, 2025, at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, California, Max Park reclaimed the 4x4x4 Cube world record average with a blistering 18.74 seconds at the Mission Viejo Fall 2025 competition. The five solves that produced the record were (20.00), 18.79, 17.76, 19.68, and (17.08), with the fastest and slowest times dropped under WCA rules. Park’s average edged out the previous world mark of 18.88 set three weeks earlier by Poland’s Tymon Kolasiński, reasserting the American’s hold on one of big-cubing’s marquee records.

Background/Context

The 4x4x4 average has been one of speedcubing’s most hotly contested titles over the past three seasons. Park’s sustained dominance on big cubes pushed the event into sub-20 territory, with landmark averages of 19.88 (April 2022) and 19.38 (March 2023). In 2025, the landscape tightened: Kolasiński lowered the world record to 19.17 in February and then to 18.88 on September 20 at CFL Brzeziny 2025, briefly taking over as the pace-setter in the event.

Single-solve speed has accelerated in parallel. Park still holds the 4x4x4 single world record of 15.71 from June 8, 2024 in Evergreen, Colorado—an emphatic benchmark that underscores how close elite solvers are to mid-3×3 times on their best 4x4 attempts. His Mission Viejo average now reunites the single and average world records under the same name, a status Park has enjoyed multiple times across the largest WCA NxN events.

The Mission Viejo Fall 2025 competition itself was a regional showcase for the deep Southern California scene, drawing more than 150 competitors to Tesoro High School’s main gym. Organized with support from West Coast Cubing, the event also featured Park winning 3x3x3 with a 5.39 average—a reminder that even amid a global surge led by talents like Yiheng Wang and Xuanyi Geng, Park remains a podium regular across disciplines.

How the record fell

Park’s record came in the 4x4x4 final, where his pacing and consistency separated him from an already fast field. The 18.79 opener set a steady foundation; the 17.76 third solve applied real pressure to the record line; and while the 19.68 fourth attempt left razor-thin margin, a clutch 17.08 on the fifth—ultimately the dropped best—showed the peak speed was there throughout the set. Stripping out the slowest and fastest attempts, as WCA averages require, the remaining middle solves combined for the 18.74 that pushed the global standard down by 0.14 seconds.

A notable context point: Kolasiński’s 18.88 at Brzeziny just weeks earlier had moved the target from the low 19s firmly into the 18s. Park’s response in Mission Viejo—without an outlier single carrying the set—signals that sub-19 consistency is becoming the expectation rather than the exception at the very top. It also fits a broader 2025 pattern where both athletes traded benchmarks across 4x4x4 and 5x5x5, elevating the entire big-cube field.

Beyond the headline average, Mission Viejo offered other data for analysts. Park’s best single of the round, 17.08, sits within striking distance of his own 15.71 world record, hinting that further single improvements remain plausible as reconstruction, parity choice, and turning precision tighten. Meanwhile, his first-round seeding average—well into the low 20s—reminded observers that finals-stage execution is often where Park puts everything together.

Significance and impact

Park’s 18.74 matters for several reasons:

• It reestablishes him atop the 4x4x4 average rankings at a time when the metric is trending down across the elite field.
• The margin—0.14 seconds faster than 18.88—may appear small, but in modern big-cube averages, tenths are meaningful. At this speed, a single extra AUF or a minor lookahead hiccup can swing a record either way.
• The result continues a 2025 narrative of cross-continental rivalry: Park (USA) and Kolasiński (POL) trading punches has sharpened strategies and hardware choices throughout the community, trickling down to national scenes as top contenders adopt more aggressive centers-first planning, safer last-layer permutations, and tighter pauses.
• For manufacturers and tuners, consistent sub-19 finals sets validate the current generation of flagship 4x4 hardware and setups. While Park’s exact equipment at Mission Viejo wasn’t disclosed, the solve fluidity—and lack of visible lockups—reflects the stability that modern magnets, core tolerances, and lubricants provide under pressure.

The psychological component also matters. Park’s ability to deliver a world record average outside a major championship final—at a single-day local event—reinforces a theme from his career: he often does his most efficient work in familiar Southern California environments, surrounded by organizers and delegates he has known for years. That comfort can translate to subtly better execution when a record line appears within reach.

What’s next

The big-cubes calendar doesn’t slow down. Europe gathers this weekend for the Polish Championship 2025 in Warsaw (November 13–16), a marquee national that routinely attracts many of the continent’s best. With only hundredths separating the current world-class averages, observers will be watching whether anyone can press into the mid‑18s—or even threaten a first-ever sub‑18 average—in high-stakes finals.

In North America, late‑November and December competitions typically offer additional attempts before year’s end. Given Park’s history of late‑season form, another world-class run is always in play. Regardless of who lands the next punch, Mission Viejo Fall 2025 will be remembered as the moment the 4x4x4 average ceiling lowered again, reshaping expectations for 2026 continental championships.

Key takeaways

• Result: Max Park set a new 4x4x4 world record average of 18.74 on October 12, 2025, at Mission Viejo Fall 2025 (Las Flores, CA).
• Solve set: (20.00), 18.79, 17.76, 19.68, (17.08).
• Previous mark: 18.88 by Tymon Kolasiński, set September 20, 2025.
• Context: Park also holds the 4x4x4 single world record of 15.71 from June 8, 2024.
• Why it matters: The rivalry at the top and steadily improving consistency are pushing 4x4x4 averages into the high‑18s, redefining what’s possible in finals.