Humanoid Robot Beats Human Half-Marathon Record
Monday, 2026/04/20160 words2 minutes779 reads
A humanoid robot won a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, completing the 21-kilometer course faster than the human world record. The robot, developed by Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, finished in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo's record of about 57 minutes.
This achievement represents a major improvement from last year's race, when the winning robot took 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. The Honor robot features long legs measuring about 95 centimeters and uses an advanced liquid-cooling system developed in-house.
The competition wasn't perfect—some robots fell or bumped into barriers. About 40% of the robots navigated autonomously, while others were remotely controlled. Spectators were amazed by the robots' performance, with one viewer saying it signaled "the arrival of a new era."
China is investing heavily in robotics as part of its 2026-2030 development plan. Three Chinese companies are now ranked as top global vendors for humanoid robots, each shipping over 1,000 units last year.
