A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds in a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday, faster than the men’s world record held by Jamaican sprinting great Usain Bolt.
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won its heat at the opening of the games’ second edition, organisers said.
The robot overtook smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning near the finish after falling behind early in the race. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds, also faster than the 9.58-second record Bolt set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
The results marked a sharp improvement from last year’s inaugural games, when Tiangong Ultra won the 100m in 21.50 seconds. Tiangong also won the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing last year.
Humanoid robots compete during a 400m preliminary race, following the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)
Earlier on Saturday, Chinese state media reported that Lightning had run 100m in 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5m per second.
Lightning won this year’s humanoid half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the pace of the elite men’s human world record.
Lightning stood 169cm tall and had 95-cm legs during the half-marathon. Its researchers later lengthened its legs by 10cm ahead of the games, according to broadcaster CCTV.
The 100m is among 51 events at the games, which include football, dancing and industrial-task contests.
The ‘Robot Olympics’
This year’s World Humanoid Robot Games opened on Saturday. (Reuters: Florence Lo)
It’s been called the Robot Olympics. But unlike the human Olympics, Team China is collecting almost all the medals.
Running from August 22 to 26, this year’s World Humanoid Robot Games mark the second edition of the latest and biggest incarnation of China’s robot games, which have been taking place for the past decade.
The 2026 games add a challenge for robotic hands, with robots judged on their speed and accuracy in precision tasks: tightening screws, opening bottles and picking up beads with tweezers.
The shift to work tasks in the games reflects the increasingly crowded industry’s biggest problem: showing prototypes can work in the real world.
Robotic competitions in China have provided a window into the advances of a now surging sector — and the importance of its success as a strategic industry singled out by President Xi Jinping.
Once a curiosity organised by academic teams and hobbyists, China’s robot games have become a national showcase celebrated by state media — and, increasingly, a proving ground for commercial products from companies looking to show real-world applications beyond the spectacle.
China has been promoting humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their deployment in manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.
Reuters
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