Humanoid Robot Runs 9.39 Seconds Over 100m at Beijing Games, Faster Than Bolt's Human Record
BEIJING, Aug 25 (Source Reporters) — A Chinese-built humanoid robot has run the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a time faster than Usain Bolt's human world record of 9.58 seconds set in Berlin in 2009, according to reports carried by Reuters, the Guardian and China's state-run Global Times.
By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Thu, 27 August 2026 · 1 min read
**BEIJING, Aug 25 (Source Reporters)** — A Chinese-built humanoid robot has run the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a time faster than Usain Bolt's human world record of 9.58 seconds set in Berlin in 2009, according to reports carried by Reuters, the Guardian and China's state-run Global Times.
The machine, nicknamed "Lightning" in Chinese media coverage, completed the sprint during the second edition of the Beijing-hosted games, which pit humanoid robots against one another in track, high jump and other events. Footage of the run circulated widely on social media over the weekend before confirmation from multiple outlets.
Global Times reported the 9.39-second mark as a record for humanoid robots, surpassing human track marks. Robots at the games also reportedly exceeded human bests in the high jump, per ABC News.
Organisers and engineers cautioned that the times are achieved under robot-games conditions — including automated starts and purpose-designed tracks — and are not comparable to, nor ratifiable by, World Athletics as human records. Bolt's mark remains the official men's 100m world record.
The event underscores China's push to showcase robotics leadership ahead of planned expansions of the games, officials said.
Sources: Reuters via Google News: | Global Times (time of 9.39s) | Guardian
**Sources:** Google News
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