Chinese robot Tiangong clocks sub-9-second 100 metres in Beijing

Chinese robot’s timing is seven-tenths of a ⁠second faster than the 9.58-second men’s world record set by ​Usain Bolt in 100m.China’s Tiangong ⁠Ultra humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 8.86 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Tuesday, lowering the 9.39-second mark it set at the event’s opening.The time was more than seven-tenths of a ⁠second faster than the 9.58-second men’s human world record set by Jamaican sprinting great Usain Bolt in 2009.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Top 10 players to watch in the 2026-27 European football seasonlist 2 of 3Ex-Liverpool star Fabinho reunited with Mohamed Salah at Trabzonsporlist 3 of 3Ex-Wimbledon champion Vondrousova appeals to CAS over four-year doping banend of listTiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing-humanoid-robot-innovation-center" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="193180" data-entity-type="organization">Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, achieved the new time in the semifinal of the large-size robot division.The robots’ rapid improvement has been one of the main attractions at the second edition of the Beijing ‌event, where more than 2,000 robots from 666 teams are competing in 51 events including football, dancing and industrial-task contests.Tiangong won the 100-metre (328-foot) race at last year’s inaugural games with a much slower time of 21.50 seconds, months after clinching victory at the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon in Beijing last year with an amateur-level time of 2 hours 40 minutes.“Reading that a motor-powered robot can run faster than a human is one thing,” said Li Hui, 26, an engineer with Fudan University’s table-tennis team. “Seeing it ⁠rush past you during training is completely different. You realise how impressive it ⁠is.”Tiangong completed its sub-nine-second sprint by striking a thick mat placed beyond the finish line to stop the sprinting machines. A small fire appeared in the robot’s torso after it collapsed from the impact. In the other semifinal, a robot disassembled mid-race.Participants help humanoid robots get in position at the starting line before a 100m small-size group race, during the second World Humanoid Robot Games [Florence Lo/Reuters]The sub-nine-second sprint followed Tiangong’s opening-day win on Saturday, when it overtook smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning near the finish after falling behind early. Lightning ⁠recorded 9.47 seconds, also under Bolt’s record. Honor had previously recorded ⁠a faster time of 9.32 seconds in a test run.