Chinese Robot Beats Usain Bolt's 100m Record

A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds during a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday outpacing Usain Bolt's men's world record.

Tiangong Ultra developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center won its heat after falling behind early and overtaking rival robot Lightning made by smartphone maker Honor near the finish. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds also faster than Bolt's 9.58-second record set in 2009.

Unlike Bolt neither robot crossed the line gracefully. Both slammed into a mat designed to stop them with Tiangong stumbling into the sidelines and Lightning collapsing before being carried away on a stretcher.

The performance marked major progress from last year's inaugural games, when Tiangong won the 100 metres in 21.50 seconds. Earlier Saturday, state media reported Lightning had clocked 9.32 seconds in a test run with reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.

Lightning also won this year's humanoid half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds faster than the elite human world record pace after researchers lengthened its legs by 10 cm ahead of the event.

The 100-metre race is one of 51 events at the games also include football, dancing and industrial-task competitions.

China has positioned humanoid robots as a strategic industry, betting on AI and hardware advances to boost manufacturing and logistics applications. Investor interest surged this week when shares of robot maker Unitree jumped more than fivefold on its Shanghai debut with valuing the company at roughly $50 billion.

This year's games drew 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries up sharply from last year's 280 teams.