Usain Bolt’s 100m world record just got shattered by a robot

A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100m in 9.39 seconds in a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday, faster than the men’s world record held by Jamaican sprinting great Usain Bolt.

Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, won its heat at the opening of the games’ second edition, organisers said.

The robot overtook smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning near the finish after falling behind early in the race. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds, also faster than the 9.58-second record Bolt set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The two robots lacked Bolt’s flair, slamming straight into a thick mat designed to stop them in their tracks, with Tiangong stumbling wildly into the sidelines, forcing onlookers to move out of the way. Lightning was carried away on a stretcher after collapsing to the ground.

The results nevertheless marked a sharp improvement from last year’s inaugural games, when Tiangong Ultra won the 100m in 21.50 seconds. Tiangong also won the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing last year.

Earlier on Saturday, Chinese state media reported that Lightning had run 100m in 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5m/s.

Lightning won this year’s humanoid half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the pace of the elite men’s human world record.

Lightning stood 169cm tall and had 95cm legs during the half-marathon. Its researchers later lengthened its legs by 10cm to 1.05m before the games, according to broadcaster CCTV.

The 100m is among 51 events at the games, which include football, dancing and industrial-task contests.

China has promoted humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their use in manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.

Investor enthusiasm for the sector was on display earlier this week when shares in Unitree, China’s best-known humanoid robot maker, jumped more than fivefold in its Shanghai trading debut on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $50bn (R801.26bn).

This year’s games have drawn 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries and six continents, up from 280 teams at the inaugural event.

The games, held at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, run to Wednesday.