(ECNS) -- Humanoid robots broke several long-standing human athletic records at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting rapid advances in their physical capabilities.
The five-day games brought together 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries and regions across six continents to compete in 51 events.
In a 100-meter preliminary race during the opening ceremony, a robot developed by the Tianzhuo team clocked 9.39 seconds, beating Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s human world record of 9.58 seconds. The result also marked a major improvement from the best time of 21.50 seconds recorded at last year’s games.
A Tien Kung Ultra humanoid robot from Beijing also set a new high-jump record, clearing 2.8843 meters from a standing position, well above last year’s winning mark of 95.641 centimeters.
During pre-event testing, Honor’s “Lightning” humanoid robot completed the 100 meters in 9.32 seconds and reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second, with both figures surpassing human records. The video of this robot was later reposted and liked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In April, Lightning won the 2026 Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. The robot completed the 21.1-kilometer race faster than the winner of the previous edition and also surpassed the human world record, according to Honor.
(By Helen Mo, intern Liu Shuangjing)
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