At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, Chinese humanoid robots have officially outperformed humans in classic track-and-field disciplines. On the opening day, robots from X-Humanoid set new marks in both the 100 m sprint and high jump, surpassing long‑standing human world records.
New robotic world records
Inside the National Speed Skating Oval, originally built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, organizers reported:
- In the 100 m sprint, a humanoid robot ran 9.39 s, beating Usain Bolt’s 2009 human world record of 9.58 s.
- In a standing high jump, a humanoid robot reached 2.88 m. That’s far above last year’s humanoid best of 0.95 m and even higher than the human high jump world record of 2.45 m set by Javier Sotomayor in 1993.
Both record‑breaking robots were built by Beijing‑based X-Humanoid. Ahead of the opening ceremony, a humanoid from smartphone maker Honor reportedly ran 100 m in 9.32 s during trials, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 m/s.
Tech showcase and geopolitical backdrop
The five‑day event, now in its second year, features 51 events and over 1,000 competitions, including running, table tennis, soccer, weightlifting and tug of war. According to organizers, teams from 16 countries are taking part, among them Germany, Japan and the U.S., with more than 2,000 humanoid robots on site.
The games coincide with the World Robot Conference 2026 in Beijing, where companies exhibited around 3,000 robotic products. China now produces the majority of the world’s humanoid robots, while U.S. regulators have recently increased scrutiny, including an FCC ban on new foreign‑made humanoid imports and the Pentagon listing Chinese maker Unitree over alleged military ties.
Experts stress that, despite eye‑catching records, humanoid robots are still used mainly for demonstrations and research. However, rapid progress in bipedal locomotion, control algorithms and onboard AI suggests that practical deployment in logistics, inspection and hazardous‑environment tasks may not be far off.
Source: Phys.org
