China’s humanoid robots are making rapid strides, posting times beyond established human athletics benchmarks at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
The competition opened Saturday, August 22, at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, bringing together 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries. It runs through August 26 with 51 events covering athletics, football, boxing, martial arts, table tennis and practical tasks.
An X-Humanoid machine ran the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds, faster than Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Honor’s Lightning also went under the mark in 9.47 seconds.
The leap from last year is substantial. The winning robot at the inaugural Games in August 2025 needed 21.50 seconds to complete the distance.
The machines produced another eye-catching result on Sunday, August 23, when Tiangong Ultra completed the 400 metres in 38.15 seconds, well below South African Wayde van Niekerk’s human record of 43.03 seconds, set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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The spectacle has also exposed weaknesses. Some machines failed to start, lost balance or required human assistance, while football and boxing contests highlighted difficulties with coordination.
The tournament extends beyond sport, with 21 of its 51 events devoted to practical scenarios such as cable connection, electric-vehicle charging and material handling. More than 40 per cent require autonomous operation.
The focus reflects China’s push to develop humanoids for manufacturing, logistics, services and domestic applications.
The progress was evident earlier this year when Honor’s Lightning completed a Beijing robot half-marathon in 50 minutes, 26 seconds in April, faster than Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo’s then human record of 57:20, set in Lisbon in March. The previous year’s winning robot took 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.
The results underline a crucial distinction: robots are advancing rapidly in controlled physical performance, but dependable balance, coordination and autonomy remain the bigger test for real-world use.