Humanoid Robots Shatter Four Athletics Records at Beijing Games

Humanoid robots claimed faster marks than four men’s athletics world records during the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, although the results belong to separate robot categories rather than official human competition. The five-day event, held from Aug. 22 to 26 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, brought together 2,056 robots representing 666 teams from 16 countries. Alongside track events, the games featured football, martial arts, industrial assembly, warehouse logistics and charging tasks. Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, produced the most striking results. It won the large-size 100-meter final in 8.64 seconds, beating Usain Bolt’s human record of 9.58 seconds from the 2009 World Athletics Championships. The robot had already run 9.39 seconds earlier in the competition and improved to 8.86 seconds in qualifying before posting its final time on Aug. 26. The same robot also won the 400 meters in 38.15 seconds. That was nearly five seconds faster than Wayde van Niekerk’s human world record of 43.03 seconds, set at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Tiangong Ultra completed its track sweep in the 1,500 meters, finishing in 2 minutes, 21.6 seconds. Hicham El Guerrouj’s human record is 3 minutes, 26 seconds. The next two robots finished in 2:30.00 and 2:30.22, also below the human benchmark. A separate robot made by X-Humanoid cleared 2.88 meters in a standing high jump. That exceeded Javier Sotomayor’s 2.45-meter human record, but the comparison involves different events. Sotomayor used a running approach and the Fosbury flop, while the robot jumped from a stationary position. The robot’s result also dramatically surpassed the previous robot-game best of 0.95 meters, set in 2025. Robotics investment researcher Scott Walter told Live Science that the machines’ performances reflected extensive mechanical specialization and streamlined designs. He also cautioned that the competitors were optimized for narrow tasks: some struggled to stop or negotiate curves, while others fell, hit barriers or caught fire. More than 40% of the games’ events required autonomous operation. The event therefore tested more than speed, but the source reporting noted that dependable object handling, tool use and recovery from mistakes remain significant challenges for humanoid robots.