Rubik's cube helps Canadian archer square-off in YOG competition

If solving the Rubik's cube was part of the Olympic program at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Eric Peters, a Canadian archer, would have a great opportunity to win the gold medal.

Peters is an expert in solving the Rubik's cube, or the magic cube as it's sometimes called. He uses the cube to calm himself down before, during and after competition.

"I would do that in between ends as I noticed that I would shoot better if I would do that in between ends," he said.

"When I started solving Rubik's cubes, it was something I was doing a lot, almost more than I was shooting. I started a couple of years ago, when I was 14," Peters said.

Peters picked it up on the way to a tournament as he spent 15 hours in the car to the tournament. "I picked that up and tried to solve it in the car, but I didn't get anywhere with it."

"I scrambled it on the way and 16 hours later I had finally solved it and it got faster and faster as I did it more and more. Then I looked up online to see how to find the fastest possible way to do it."

Peters took the Rubik's cube challenge during this interview on Sunday and he cracked the combination in 43.88 seconds.

"This isn't my cube, so it took a little longer," he said. "I can solve it anywhere between about 25 to 35 seconds."

Although Peters admits breathing exercises help him to relax, but the cube is a good distraction way.

"It takes me away from the archery and competition and makes me think about something else and makes me do something else to calm down and bring my heart rate down and just reset. It's a distraction mechanism," Peters said.