A 16-year-old from Wiltshire has wowed crowds from across the continent as he takes home gold in the European Speedcubing Championship 2024.
Aidan Grainger, a pupil at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, has already made a name for himself as one of the best of the best when he set a European record for the fastest time to complete the Megaminx (a 12-sided Rubik's Cube) in January 2024.
Six months later and still armed with his cube and big dreams, Aidan set out to prove he was a champion at the 2024 European Speedcubing Championships held in Pamplona, Spain from July 25-28.
Speedcubing is a competitive sport centred around the rapid solving of various combination puzzles like the Rubik's Cube and other variations.
The 2024 event was the largest championship ever held in Europe and the second largest in the world, so the competition of nimble-fingered Rubik's experts was fierce.
But 16-year-old Aidan wasn't put off by the pressure, as he confidently took home a gold medal in the Megamix final with an average time of 30.21 seconds for the 12-sided cube, and a best time of 28.26.
His impressive performance can be seen in the clip below at approximately 3:53:00, with the finals being captured at 10:20:10.
The win was particularly special for 16-year-old Aidan, as he has had to balance preparing for the European Championships with studying for his GSCE exams.
“All of us at Royal Wootton Basset Academy are incredibly proud of Aidan for the hard work and dedication to receive his title. He’s a credit to Royal Wootton Bassett," said Anita Ellis, headteacher at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy.
The 2024 championships marked the 50th anniversary of the classic Rubik's Cube being invented.
Other medals for team UK included:
- Gold: Team UK - the nations cup
- Gold: Aidan Grainger - megaminx
- Silver: Edward Burgess - pyraminx
- Silver: Ryan Eckersley - 4x4 blindfolded
- Bronze: Nicholas Archer - one-handed
- Bronze: Ariel Benchetrit - skewb
- Bronze: Ryan Eckersley - 5x5 blindfolded
The winner of the standard Rubik's Cube speedcubing at the Championship was Tymon Kolasiński from Poland with an average time of 5.92 seconds.
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