Beijing —
A year ago, they were lagging behind their human rivals. But on Sunday, one android outran the entire field, running a half marathon faster than even the fastest humans.
Lightning, a running robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed a 21km run in Beijing in an astonishing time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the human world record by more than six minutes.
According to World Athletics, the human record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds is held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.
Swinging his short forearms for balance, the 169 cm tall bright red humanoid raced across the finish line with no sign of slowing down.
This remarkable feat represents a major advance for China in the technological race with the United States, which has traditionally boasted more sophisticated humanoid models.
China’s robot industry has accelerated since the government listed robotics as one of 10 key areas in a blueprint to upgrade China’s industry and shed its reputation as the world’s low-labor factory.
In a 2023 policy document, officials identified humanoid robots as a “new frontier in the technological race” and set 2025 targets for mass production of core components and secure supply chains. That focus continued into China’s economic plans for the next five years.
Such ambitions have led to a boom in robotic sports events across China over the past year.
Last year, Beijing hosted the world’s first humanoid robot competition, featuring machines in soccer, boxing, martial arts and other sports.
And at China’s annual televised New Year’s celebration a few months ago, robots dressed in kung fu costumes delighted and wowed viewers with martial arts choreography.
More than 100 teams participated in this year’s Humanoid Half Marathon. This was almost five times as many as last year, when the competition was first held, but the results were largely disappointing.
In the men’s and women’s races in the human category on Sunday, Zhao Hajie and Wang Qiao Xia won, each taking over an hour.
Lightning also beat the previous champion robot by almost two hours.
Its autonomous navigation and explosive power were “key to winning the race,” half-marathon organizers wrote on social media.
