A humanoid robot sponsored by Chinese smartphone giant Honor smashed the men’s half-marathon world record at Beijing’s E-Town event on Sunday, finishing the 21km course in 50 minutes 26 seconds—an average 25km/h pace. This outstripped Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo’s 57:20 mark and the top human finisher in the separate-lane race.
Spectators in Yizhuang cheered as over 100 robots—up from 20 last year—competed with agile strides mimicking Usain Bolt. State broadcaster CCTV highlighted the winner’s autonomous navigation tech. Last year, bots struggled, taking over 2.5 hours amid frequent falls; this leap underscores China’s robotics boom, fueled by 73.5 billion yuan ($10.8bn) in 2025 investments.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Viewer Han Chenyu, 25, called it “pretty cool” but voiced job loss fears from rapid AI advances. Xie Lei, 41, predicted robots soon handling housework, elderly care, or risky tasks like firefighting. Organizers say the race spurs innovation, making humanoids commonplace in China.
As Xie noted, robots now top humans in navigation for this sport, blending awe with a tinge of human sadness—yet sparking boundless imagination.
