Humanoid robot beats human world record at Beijing half-marathon

Beijing: A humanoid robot sprinted to victory at a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday, finishing faster than the current human world record and showcasing China’s advances in robotics.

The winning robot, developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed the 21-kilometer race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race kicked off.

That time beats the human world record held by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who ran 21 kilometers in about 57 minutes at the Lisbon road race in March. The performance marks a major leap from last year’s inaugural robot race, where the winning humanoid finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

The competition ran alongside a race for human runners. Not all robots fared smoothly — one fell flat at the start line, while another bumped into a barrier.

Du Xiaodi, Honor’s test development engineer, said the team was happy with the results. He explained the robot’s design was modeled on top human athletes, with long legs of about 95 cm, and equipped with a powerful liquid-cooling system largely developed in-house.