Humanoid Robots Outrun Usain Bolt's 100-Meter World Record at Beijing Games

Humanoid robots competing in Beijing have surpassed established human sprinting benchmarks, with two separate machines completing 100-meter sprints faster than Usain Bolt's 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds, as first reported by Engadget.

The sprint performances occurred during preliminary heats at the second annual World Humanoid Robot Games, which commenced on Saturday in the Chinese capital. The Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot logged a top time of 9.39 seconds in the 100-meter event, setting the fastest mark of the competition.

The Tiangong Ultra was constructed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center. It edged out the Lightning robot, a competing machine built by technology enterprise Honor, which completed the same distance in 9.47 seconds.

The results mark a rapid acceleration in speed performance compared to earlier benchmark tests. During the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games last year, an earlier version of the Tiangong Ultra won the 100-meter dash with a time of 21.5 seconds.

Despite the high top speeds, technical challenges prevent these systems from immediate real-world deployment. Upon crossing the finish line, several sprinters crashed directly into protective padding, with multiple units requiring human operators to carry them off the track on stretchers.

In conjunction with the stadium track events, Beijing hosted a long-distance half-marathon intended to highlight the locomotion durability of humanoid platforms developed by Chinese technology entities. Although the endurance event featured frequent falls, Honor's Lightning robot captured first place with a completion time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, which also eclipsed equivalent human records.

The World Humanoid Robot Games run from August 22 through August 26. The multi-day exposition hosts thousands of automated participants competing across numerous athletic categories beyond track and field, including boxing, soccer, and table tennis.