Humanoid Robot Tiangong Ultra Blazes 100m in 9.39 Seconds, Beats Bolt's Record but Crashes at the Finish

At the moment they crossed the finish line, the humanoid robots' movements looked almost identical to human sprinters—upper body leaning forward, legs pumping at full speed. But without the ability to decelerate, nearly all of them ended up crashing straight into the padding ahead. Some robots even had to be carried off the track by staff using stretchers.

This scene played out during the preliminary round of the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Innovation Center for Humanoid Robotics, completed the 100m sprint prelim in 9.39 seconds at the event, which kicked off on August 22—faster than Usain Bolt's 9.58-second world record set in 2009 and still standing today. Of course, this comparison only holds up outside the framework of human competition. In the same race, Honor's Lightning robot trailed closely behind with a time of 9.47 seconds.

Zooming out, the result itself is newsworthy. At last year's inaugural games, Tiangong Ultra took the 100m title with a time of 21.5 seconds—meaning it shaved off more than half its time in just one year.

Beyond track events, Beijing also hosted a humanoid robot half-marathon for Chinese companies around the same time, with no shortage of falls and collisions on the course either. In the end, Honor's Lightning robot took first place with a time of 50 minutes 26 seconds—a result that reportedly also surpassed a human record, though the specific comparison figures weren't mentioned in coverage.

Whether it's the 100m sprint or the half-marathon, the post-race footage serves as a reminder: these robots still have a clear gap to close before commercial-ready deployment. This year's World Humanoid Robot Games runs through August 26, featuring not just track and field but also soccer, table tennis, boxing, and more—with thousands of robots taking part.