Faster than Usain Bolt? Here's all the records robot 'athletes' broke at this year's World Humanoid Robot Games in China.
Live Science · 2026-09-05
At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing in August 2026, humanoid robots broke several human athletic benchmarks. The Tiangong Ultra robot, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won the large-size 100m final in 8.64 seconds, nearly a second faster than Usain Bolt's human record of 9.58 seconds. The same robot also dominated the 400m competition, finishing in 38.15 seconds, almost five seconds quicker than Wayde van Niekerk's human record of 43.03 seconds.
Tiangong Ultra achieved a hat trick by winning the 1,500m race in 2 minutes, 21.6 seconds, significantly surpassing Hicham El Guerrouj's human record of 3 minutes, 26 seconds. In a different event, a robot from X-Humanoid cleared 2.88 meters (9.45 feet) in a standing high jump, breaking its previous robot record of 0.95 meters from the 2025 games, though this is a different discipline from the standard running high jump. These achievements highlight the expanding capabilities of humanoid robots, requiring advanced actuators, real-time balance correction, and foot-placement control.