Reuters article
Chinese robots beat Usain Bolt's 100m world record at Beijing games
https://www.reuters.com/sports/chinese-humanoid-robot-lightning-beats-human-100m-world-record-state-media-says-2026-08-22/
Part of the content was translated by Gemini 3.7 Flash.
At a qualifying round for the 'World Humanoid Robot Competition' held in Beijing on Saturday, a Chinese humanoid robot broke Usain Bolt's men's world record of 9.58 seconds by running 100 meters in 9.39 seconds.
According to the organizing committee, 'Tiangong Ultra,' developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, took first place in the second round qualifying heat of the competition.
Tiangong Ultra fell behind at the beginning of the race but overtook Honor's 'Lightning,' a smartphone manufacturer, near the finish line. Lightning also crossed the finish line in 9.47 seconds, faster than Bolt's record of 9.58 seconds set at the 2009 Berlin World Athletics Championships.
However, neither robot possessed the same finesse as Bolt. The robots slammed into thick mats installed for deceleration and stopping, and Tiangong swerved so violently off the track that spectators had to get out of the way. Lightning fell to the ground and was carried away on a stretcher. [The rest of the content is omitted]
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