Rubik's cube, puzzle solved in 5 seconds and 63 cents: Mattia Galentino is the new Italian champion

Very young compared to the other champions in the race, Mattia started competing in 2017, when he was just 12 years old, and he won, having already reached the top spot last year, overcoming competitors with much more experience than him.

Over the years, the cubing, born in 1982 as a complicated pastime designed by the Hungarian Erno Rubik, has now become a real sport with precise rules, tensions in the field, fans and social channels. In each race, the contestants resolve five cubes from which a ranking average is calculated. The elimination rounds and the rounds end in a tense final head-to-head at the last penny, where they need coolness, self control and a lot of concentration.

The new champion is also a model student: he studies with profit at the Liceo Internazionale del Convitto Nazionale in Rome, plays the violin at the S. Cecilia Conservatory and practices fencing in the youth group of the FF.OO., another sport that requires attention and coordination. "In the final I was very focused," he told us, "I wanted to win and the record came alone. Now I'd like to bring the colors of Italy to the next Europeans of 2020."