Sport stacking originated in the early 1980's in southern California and received national attention in 1990 on a segment of the "Tonight Show", with Johnny Carson. That was where it first captured the imagination of Bob Fox, who was then an elementary classroom teacher in Colorado.

Why did speed stacking start?

When the children he was working with were tired of playing traditional sports, he took paper cups and asked them to stack the cups as fast as they could. ... After the sport received national attention on The Tonight Show, Bob Fox, a physical education teacher from Colorado, introduced stacking to his students.

Who is the fastest speed stacker in the world?

The fastest sport stacking individual cycle stack is 4.753 seconds, and was achieved by Chan Keng Ian (Malaysia) in Sabang Jaya, Malaysia, on 19 May 2019.