At Olympics-like event, Chinese robots smash athletic records set by humans — including Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint time

On the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, Chinese humanoid robots shattered records previously held by humans, including Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint world record. More than 2,000 humanoid robots took part in the five-day event, which is a demonstration of China's rapid advancements in robotics amid a technology rivalry with the United States.

The games, held in the National Speed Skating Oval from the 2022 Winter Olympics, featured 51 events and more than 1,000 competitions, including running, table tennis, and soccer.

The organizer claimed that Chinese humanoid robots defeated human world records, as hundreds of robots marched in formation onto the field in a synchronized display. At the 100-meter sprint, a humanoid robot achieved a time of 9.39 seconds, outpacing Bolt's 9.58 seconds from 2009. Similarly, in a standing high jump, a humanoid robot reached a height of 2.88 meters, surpassing the previous human record of 2.45 meters set by Cuba's Javier Sotomayor in 1993. Both robots were from X-Humanoid, a company based in Beijing.

Although experts acknowledge that humanoid robots are primarily used for demonstrations, performances, and research at present, they predict that mass real-world deployment will eventually occur. Some spectators expressed enthusiasm about the rapid improvements in humanoid robots' capabilities. Li Yanfeng, a resident of Beijing, admitted that her initial skepticism about artificial intelligence has dissipated as she witnessed the robots' impressive abilities.