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A Chinese humanoid robot has beaten Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt’s 100-metre record, completing the distance in just 9.39 seconds during the qualifying round of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.
Named Tiangong Ultra, the robot was developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre. Organisers said Tiangong initially fell behind but overtook another robot, Lightning, towards the end of the race. Lightning, developed by smartphone maker Honor, finished in 9.47 seconds.
Both robots recorded times faster than Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds, set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
However, the robots’ performances lacked the finesse of human sprinters. Instead of slowing down after crossing the finish line, both crashed into the finishing mats. Tiangong lost control, veered across the track and ended up near the boundary, forcing spectators to move away. Lightning fell after completing the race and had to be carried away on a stretcher by staff.
The robots showed significant improvement compared with last year’s inaugural event. Tiangong took 21.50 seconds to complete the 100 metres last year. Chinese state media also reported that Lightning completed a practice run this year in 9.32 seconds.
Lightning has also won this year’s humanoid robot half-marathon, finishing in 50 minutes and 26 seconds—faster than the pace of the men’s human half-marathon world record.