The winner completed the 21.1 kilometer race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds – much faster than Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, holder of the human world record, who, in March, covered the same distance in around 57 minutes.
One robot humanoid, 169 cm tall, won a half-marathon for robots in Beijing this Sunday, surpassing the human world record.
The winner, Lightning, from Honor (best known for its smartphones and laptops) completed the 21.1 kilometer route, in the E-Town economic and technological development zone, in Beijing, on Sunday (April 19) in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
The robot was faster than Jacob Kiplimoholder of the human world record, who, in March, covered the same distance in about 57 minutes.
The performance marked a significant advance in relation to the inaugural race of the last yearwhen the winning robot finished in two hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.
The scale of this year’s event was almost five times larger than that of 2025, with more than 100 teams participating in the competition, including five from abroad.
However, the race did not go without a hitch — a robot fell at the starting line and disappeared.
Even the loser collided with a barrier and fell during the final stretch of the route. However, the technical committee was there to help him and he ended up completing the race and, even so, achieving the record.
Beijing E-Town said that around 40% of the robots traveled the route autonomously, while the rest were controlled remotely.
The autonomous competitors were guided along the route by the navigation system BeiDou satellite and real-time information via 5Gwhile the assisted humanoids were followed by teams that operated their movements via remote control.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that a robot acted as a traffic agent, to guide participants with arm gestures and voice.
Beijing’s latest five-year plan promises to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Accelerating the development of products such as humanoid robots is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second largest economy.
The China Global Television Network captured the Lightning running directly through the goal tape, looking like they could keep running for days.
