The world's fastest man record was shattered on the first day of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.Jamaican Usain Bolt's 100-meter dash record of 9.58 set in 2009 was edged by a Beijing-based X-Humanoid robot named Lightning Bolt, which ran 100 meters at 9:39 seconds before smashing into a blue wall.Before the opening, a humanoid robot from Chinese smartphone company Honor completed a 100-meter sprint in a record of 9.32 seconds during a trial of the games, the company said, at a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second.After smashing into the wall, the robots were placed on a stretcher, unlike Bolt, who was able to jog a lap to celebrate human achievement in 2009.ROBOTS BEAT HUMANS IN HALF MARATHONSpectators watch as a Lightning humanoid robot by Honor and a Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot compete in a 100-meter exhibition race during the opening ceremony for the second World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China, on Aug.22, 2026.
(Florence Lo)The World Humanoid Robot Games, in its second year, features more than 2,000 robots in 51 events and 1,000 competitions like running, table tennis and soccer.The five-day event highlights China's rapid progress in robotics amid a heated tech race with the U.S.The games, which are taking place in the National Speed Skating Oval built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, opened the same week Beijing was holding the 2026 World Robot Conference, where companies showcased around 3,000 products, including humanoid robots.CHINA IS BUILDING AN AI WAR MACHINE.
WASHINGTON MUST WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATEHumanoid robots show they can beat the world's fastest man reach in the 100-meter dash, but they cannot stop without a blue wall.(Tingshu Wang)In a standing high jump, a humanoid robot was able to reach 2.88 meters, well above the 0.95 meters best result by a humanoid in last year’s first edition of the games.
It surpassed the human high jump record of 2.45 meters set by Cuba’s Javier...