2026-04-20 12:04:21
A robot has sprinted into the record books after storming to victory in a half-marathon in Beijing – leaving human runners in the dust.
The futuristic race, held in the Chinese capital on Sunday (19.04.26), saw humanoid machines compete over 13 miles in a showcase of cutting-edge robotics. And this year’s winner didn’t just improve on past performances – it smashed expectations.
The victorious robot, developed by smartphone giant Honor, crossed the finish line in a blistering 50 minutes and 26 seconds. That’s significantly faster than the human world record set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who clocked around 57 minutes at the Lisbon road race earlier this year.
It marks a staggering leap from last year’s robot winner, which needed more than two and a half hours to complete the same distance.
Despite the headline-grabbing triumph, the race wasn’t without its teething problems. One robot toppled over at the starting line, while another veered off course and collided with a barrier.
Still, the team behind the winning machine was thrilled with the result.
Du Xiaodi, Honor’s test development engineer, said: “Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology could be applied in future industrial scenarios.”
He revealed the robot was designed to mimic elite human runners, complete with long 95cm legs and a powerful in-house liquid-cooling system to keep it from overheating.
The event, hosted in Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area, was the second robot-only half-marathon staged in the city. Around 40 per cent of the machines navigated the course autonomously, while others relied on remote control.
A separate Honor robot actually recorded an even faster time of 48 minutes and 19 seconds, but it was remotely operated and did not take the official crown.
Spectators were left stunned by the rapid progress.
Onlooker Sun Zhigang said: “I feel enormous changes this year. It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”
Another attendee, Wang Wen, added: “The robots’ speed far exceeds that of humans. This may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.”
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