A Humanoid Robot Ran 100m in 9.39s — Leaving Usain Bolt's World Record in the Dust
At a 100m preliminary heat in Beijing's second World Humanoid Robot Games, a robot named Tiangong Ultra ran 9.39 seconds — faster than Usain Bolt's human world record.
Three Key Facts
Tiangong Ultra ran 100m in 9.39s, blowing past the fastest legs in track history. The robot, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, clocked 9.39s in its Aug 22, 2026 preliminary heat, beating Bolt's 9.58s human record by a clear margin. Organizers laid down a smooth track adapted for its wheeled feet to make the run possible.
Multiple firms are racing, and the gap is closing at visible speed. Honor's "Lightning" robot ran 9.47s in its heat and reportedly hit 9.32s in a test. Compare that to last year's inaugural games, where the best humanoid 100m time was 21.50s — nearly doubled in a single year. From "can stand up" to "can outrun a world champion," it took just one edition of the games.
Over 40% of the 51 events require fully autonomous operation. This competition isn't only about speed — it's about intelligence. Most events demand robots to decide and execute on their own with zero human intervention. The sprint is just the flashy headline; the real signal is embodied AI charging out of the lab and onto the field.
WangDou's Take
Don't let the 9.39s fool you — the organizers basically switched on the air-conditioning for these machines, laying a flat track for wheeled feet, and it was only a heat. But the number that should genuinely chill you is this: 21.5 seconds last year, 9.39 seconds now — more than a doubling in twelve months. What took humans tens of thousands of years of evolution to achieve, robots caught up with a battery and a few lines of code. Once that pace lands on logistics, warehouses, and factory floors, the threat isn't "robots doing manual labor" — it's "robots shipping faster than your deliveries." Bolt retired years ago, but humanity's title as "the fastest species" may be retiring too.
Source: CBS News