A Chinese humanoid robot has reportedly broken Usain Bolt’s 100-metre record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, highlighting China’s rapid advances in robotics.
The headless, white humanoid, named Tiangong Ultra, completed the 100-metre sprint in 9.39 seconds, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. That is faster than Bolt’s 9.58-second world record, set in 2009.
The same robot made another impressive showing on Sunday, completing the 400 metres in a reported 38.15 seconds, nearly five seconds faster than the existing human world record.
Tiangong Ultra was developed by a government-backed research centre in Beijing. Its performance was one of the highlights of the second World Humanoid Robot Games, where dozens of robots competed in athletics, football, boxing, martial arts and other events.
Not every robot performed as impressively. Some failed to start, others struggled to run, while several fell shortly after the races began. During football and boxing events, spectators were also treated to plenty of amusing mishaps as the machines stumbled, collapsed and struggled to maintain their balance.
Despite the entertainment, the competition demonstrates how quickly humanoid robotics is developing in China. The bigger challenge, however, may not be simply making robots run faster than humans, but developing machines capable of performing useful everyday tasks reliably.
For 72-year-old Beijing spectator Hou Yali, the ultimate test will be whether robots can move beyond sporting competitions and become genuinely useful assistants in homes and workplaces.
As humanoid technology continues to advance, competitions like these offer a glimpse of a future in which robots may increasingly compete with—and eventually work alongside—humans.
