A Chinese humanoid robot named Tiangong Ultra ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds during preliminaries at Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games. The time beat the official human world record held by Usain Bolt by 0.26 seconds, but the machines still relied on thick safety mats to stop after the finish.
Tiangong Ultra posted times of 9.32, 9.34 and 9.39 seconds and led the preliminary field, Beijing Daily reported Sunday.
The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center developed Tiangong Ultra. In the opening heat on Saturday, the robot overtook Honor’s Lightning near the finish and won in 9.39 seconds. Lightning crossed in 9.47 seconds.
After the finish, Tiangong Ultra stumbled toward the sidelines and Lightning collapsed. Workers carried Lightning away on a stretcher, while thick mats served as brakes for both machines, Reuters reported.
WATCH: Robot beats human’s world record
A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds, faster than Usain Bolt’s legendary world record 9.58 seconds. pic.twitter.com/160vYMQDR3
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 23, 2026
Tiangong Ultra’s time did not replace Bolt’s official record. World Athletics still lists the Jamaican sprinter’s 9.58-second performance in Berlin on August 16, 2009, as the men’s 100-meter world record.
Lightning’s speed had already drawn attention. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Honor robot completed a Beijing robot half-marathon in 50 minutes, 26 seconds in April under separate event rules that weighted autonomous navigation.
Speed races ahead of control
Beijing’s official event description says the 100-meter dash requires fully autonomous robots this year. The five-day games run through Wednesday at the National Speed Skating Oval. Organizers registered 2,056 robots from 666 teams for 51 events and 1,301 competition sessions.
The events mix sports with factory, hotel, retail and emergency-response tasks.
“Only when it can work in those end scenarios does it have real value,” Lumos Robotics CEO Yu Chao said. “Simply running and jumping does not improve efficiency,” he added, Reuters reported.
The display comes less than a month after the Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List following executive branch national security determinations.
The rule blocks new covered models from obtaining FCC equipment authorization unless they receive conditional approval. It leaves previously authorized models and devices already owned untouched.
“Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will continue to do our part to secure America’s critical supply chains,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in the July 28 release.
The Beijing finish showcased China’s rapid robotics advances and exposed a basic limit in the demonstration: the machines still relied on a wall of padding to stop safely.
