Two humanoid robots run 100 metres in under 9.5 seconds in Beijing

Humanoid robots have run 100 metres in under 9.5 seconds at Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games, crossing a benchmark no competitor reached at the event a year earlier. Tiangong Ultra won a preliminary heat in 9.39 seconds, while Lightning finished in 9.47. Both times were quicker than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second men’s world record. They are not official athletics records, however, because the machines were racing in a separate robot competition rather than under rules for human athletes.

The clearest measure of progress is year-on-year. Tiangong Ultra won the same distance at the inaugural games in 21.50 seconds, meaning its latest performance cut more than 12 seconds from that time. Lightning was also reported to have clocked 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.

The races also showed how much engineering work remains. Both robots ran into padded stopping mats; Tiangong stumbled toward the sidelines, and Lightning collapsed and had to be carried away. The five-day gathering brings together 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries, with 51 events spanning athletics, dancing, football and industrial tasks. The combination of dramatic speed gains and visible instability offers an unusually clear snapshot of both the pace and present limits of humanoid mobility.