Usain Bolt's legendary 100-meter sprint record of 9.58 seconds has stood the test of time, but a new contender has emerged from an unexpected source. At the World
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, was not alone in its record-breaking performance. Another humanoid robot, Lightning, created by smartphone manufacturer Honor, finished closely behind with a time of 9.47 seconds. These results represent a dramatic improvement from the previous edition of the games, where Tiangong Ultra had a time of 21.50 seconds in the same event, showcasing the rapid evolution of robotic capabilities in competitive settings.
Robots Outpace Humans in Half-Marathon
The achievements of humanoid robots were not limited to the 100-meter race. On Sunday, another robot named Flash, developed by Shenzhen Honor Smart Technology Development Co., also made headlines by completing a half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. This performance eclipsed the human world record of 57:20, previously set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo at the Lisbon Half Marathon last month. The event featured over 100 teams from various countries, including China, Germany, France, and Brazil, competing alongside human runners.
In this unique race format, both robots and human participants followed the same 21-kilometer route but were assigned separate lanes to ensure safety. The robots had a cutoff time of three hours and 40 minutes. Notably, this year's competition introduced two participation methods: remote control and autonomous navigation. Teams using remote control had their finishing times adjusted with a coefficient of 1.2, while approximately 40 percent of the teams opted for autonomous navigation to enhance their performance.
Liang Liang, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, explained that the introduction of these coefficients aims to promote research and development in autonomous navigation technology, which is essential for the future application of humanoid robots in everyday life. Meanwhile, in the human category of the E-Town half-marathon, China's Zhao Haijie clinched the men's title with a time of one hour, seven minutes, and 47 seconds, while Wang Qiaoxia secured victory in the women's race, finishing in 1:18:06.
