A Chinese humanoid robot ran the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds on Saturday, beating the human world record of 9.58 seconds set by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in 2009, organizers said, on the opening day of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
More than 2,000 humanoid robots are taking part in the five-day event, now in its second year, which organizers describe as an Olympics-style showcase of China’s advances in robotics. The games are being held at the National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and feature 51 events and more than 1,000 individual competitions, including running, table tennis and soccer.
The robot that broke the sprint record was developed by Beijing-based X-Humanoid. A robot from the same company also cleared 2.88 metres in a standing high jump event, surpassing the human record of 2.45 metres set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993.
Ahead of the games’ formal opening, a separate humanoid robot built by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, nicknamed “Lightning,” completed a 100-metre run in 9.32 seconds during a trial event, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Not every robot performed as well; several competitors fell or malfunctioned during their events, according to organizers. Experts note that despite the milestone results, humanoid robots remain largely confined to demonstrations, research and performance settings, with widespread practical deployment still some way off.
The event comes as Beijing promotes humanoid robotics as a strategic industry, with the games taking place the same week as the 2026 World Robot Conference, where companies showcased roughly 3,000 robotics products, underscoring China’s push to lead in the sector amid intensifying competition with the United States.
