Two robots developed by a Chinese tech company have crushed a human world record for long-distance running at Beijing’s second robot marathon, with another Chinese robot recently coming within a hair of breaking Usain Bolt’s average speed in his world record 100-meter run in 2009.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Two humanoid robots built by the Chinese have completed a half marathon in 48 minutes and 19 seconds and 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Both robots surpassed the human world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds set by Ugandan long-distance runner and four-time World Cross Country Champion Jacob Kiplimo earlier this year. Built by Honor, a Chinese electronics manufacturer, the new records were set during Beijing’s second annual humanoid robot marathon on Sunday, highlighting the swift progress in China’s robotics industry over the last 12 months. 📺 DETAIL: Sunday’s second annual humanoid robot marathon showcased two robots from electronics manufacturer Honor, a Chinese state-owned enterprise and former subsidiary of Huawei. One of the robots was remotely controlled by humans; the other was entirely autonomous. The remote-controlled robot completed the course in 48 minutes and 19 seconds, while the autonomous robot finished in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Both smashed the human-set world record set by four-time World Cross Country Champion Jacob Kiplimo. This follows H1, a short-distance running robot built by Chinese company Unitree, achieving a top speed of 10.1 meters per second earlier this month, almost breaking Usain Bolt’s average speed of 10.44 meters per second during his record-setting 100-meter sprint in 2009. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “I feel enormous changes this year. It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.” – Robot marathon spectator Sun Zhigang 🎯 IMPACT: The robots’ times represent a massive improvement over China’s inaugural robot marathon, in which robots struggled to complete the course and lagged significantly behind human runners, including amateurs. |
This Chinese humanoid robot just shattered the world record for a half marathon, finishing in 50 min 26 sec.
This video shows its crash just meters before the finish line where it had to be picked up by a team of humans. The robot is from Honor, the smartphone maker and Huawei… pic.twitter.com/HflDC0rInX
— Kyle Chan (@kyleichan) April 19, 2026
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