Faster than Usain Bolt? Here's all the records robot 'athletes' broke at this year's World Humanoid Robot Games in China.

Faster than Usain Bolt? Here's all the records robot 'athletes' broke at this year's World Humanoid Robot Games in China. Humanoid robots at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing have outpaced and out-jumped human athletics benchmarks, but the event also revealed how much work remains before they can operate reliably in the real world. Humanoid robots in Beijing have beaten a number of men's athletics world records at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, claiming high-water marks in the 100-meter sprint, the 400 m, 1,500 m and high jump. While these performances aren't official replacements for the human records, as the robots competed under robot-specific categories and conditions, they highlight the progress made since last year's inaugural robot games . The five-day games were held between Aug. 22nd and 26 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval and drew 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries. The events included sports like football and martial arts, as well as practical applications like warehouse logistics, factory-style assembly and charging tasks. Robots broke four human athletics records: 100 meters: Tiangong Ultra, 8.64 seconds Human benchmark: Usain Bolt ran 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Robot result: Tiangong Ultra is a humanoid robot developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center. It won the large-size 100 m final, completing it in 8.64 seconds on Aug. 26. It set an early mark of 9.39 seconds, already enough to smash Bolt's record, then improved to 8.86 seconds in qualifying before the blistering 8.64 time in the final. That 8.64-second time is 0.94 seconds below Bolt’s mark. 400 meters: Tiangong Ultra, 38.15 seconds Human benchmark: Wayde van Niekerk's 43.03 seconds, set at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 14, 2016. Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Robot result: The same robot that set the 100 m record dominated the 400 m competition as well. Tiangong Ultra won the 400 m final in 38.15 seconds, nearly 5 seconds faster than van Niekerk's world record. 1,500 meters: Tiangong Ultra, 2 minutes, 21.6 seconds Human benchmark: Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco set the men’s 1,500 m world record of 3 minutes, 26 seconds in Rome on July 14, 1998. Robot result: Team Tianzhuo's Tiangong Ultra completed its record-smashing hat trick, winning the 1,500 m in 2 minutes, 21.6 seconds — well below El Guerrouj's time. The next two finishers, at 2 minutes, 30.00 seconds and 2 minutes, 30.22 seconds, also bettered the human benchmark. High jump: 2.88 m (9.45 feet) standing jump Human benchmark: Javier Sotomayor of Cuba cleared 2.45 m (8.04 feet) in Salamanca, Spain, on July 27, 1993. Robot result: A robot made by X-Humanoid cleared 2.88 m in a standing high jump, which smashed the previous best robot result of 0.95 m (3.12 feet) at the inaugural games in 2025. However, Sotomayor’s record came in a standard running high jump, in which athletes use a curved approach, generate speed and clear the bar using a technique called the Fosbury flop. The robot completed a standing high jump, a different event with different mechanics. The running high jump is both harder and higher than the standing jump, because athletes can convert horizontal speed into greater lift using a one-foot takeoff and the Fosbury flop, enabling higher clearances than the purely muscular, two-footed standing high jump. What the record claims mean These games showcase the expanding abilities of humanoid robots. Disciplines like running, particularly across longer distance events like the 1500 m, and high standing jumps require powerful actuators, fast balance corrections, foot-placement control and software that can compensate for tiny errors in real time. "In my view, these World Records were achieved using, 'The Best Part is No Part' principle, through mostly mechanical optimization to perform a single task extremely well," said Scott Walter, the Robotics Research Diligence director at RoboStrategy, an investment fund that gives retail and institutional investors exposure to private and public companies in robotics and “embodied” or physical AI. "Locomotion is mostly solved as witnessed by these games, albeit with optimizations," he told Live Science in an email. Walter said the key to many of the impressive advances we've seen is simplicity, shearing off unnecessary components that introduce more points of failure and can make coordination more difficult. "Many degrees of freedom were removed in the arms (shoulders, elbow, no wrist, no hands), hips and ankles. This reduced mass, and allowed distal mass to be moved higher up in the kinematic chain, improving movement efficiency," he said. However, although the robots were very capable in the specific events in which they competed, we shouldn't take that to mean they're top performers in other, more diverse tasks. "The bots are barely humanoid and could only accelerate in a straight line, not stop without crashing nor run the curve to slow down," Walter said. "The winners were in no shape afterwards to stand on the podium to receive their medals. Nor could they run in the 4x100 relay as, ironically, they had no hands for the 'hand-off.'" Some robots were seen crashing into barriers or falling, and others caught fire, highlighting that reliability is still an issue. But other robots at the games were made for more than just going faster, higher, stronger. Alongside track-style events, robots performed practical tasks such as connecting charging cables, handling objects, using tools and working in simulated industrial or service settings. Related stories - Scientists found the optimal robot body, and it has 20 legs — watch it scale walls and move through trees - China's real-life 'transformer' mech is a giant humanoid robot that can switch from bounding on 4 legs to walking on 2 - This humanoid robot does all your housework for you — and its makers say it's ready for your home In many cases, the greater challenge is not raw strength or speed but reliably seeing an object, judging its position, applying the right amount of force and recovering when something does not go as planned. More than 40% of the games' events required robots to operate autonomously, without direct human control. "Manipulation is the greatest biggest challenge as that is the business end of the humanoid and a dexterous and robust hand is still elusive," Walter said. "Specialization is easy, general purpose is not." Walter noted that the decathlon record may be the next target as it demonstrates a range of abilities. "The human Decathlon record is the true test of speed, endurance, power, strength, robustness, coordination and dexterity. I would not be surprised to see an attempt at the record next year," he said. Alan is a freelance tech and entertainment journalist who specializes in computers, laptops, and video games. He's previously written for sites like PC Gamer, GamesRadar, and Rolling Stone. If you need advice on tech, or help finding the best tech deals, Alan is your man. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.