Watch: Moment humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt's 100m record

BBC ^ | 08/22/2026 | BBC

[know.your.why]

A robot has outperformed humans by running faster than Usain Bolt's 100m sprint world record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China. The humanoid robot, developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics, ran the distance in 9.39 seconds at the event. Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Bolt set the world record for humans in 2009, running 100m in 9.58 seconds. The robot beat two others including one made by Chinese smartphone maker Honor - which the manufacturer says ran the distance in 9.32 seconds in a test run. Other events at the robot games, which started on Saturday, include boxing and football, but also household tasks such as folding laundry. The BBC's China correspondent Laura Bicker reports from Beijing.

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TOPICS: China; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ai; china; robots

[know.your.why]

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cgljl9zp47xo

[rightwingcrazy]

My car can do 100 meters in under 5 seconds.

But it’s only a machine, so that doesn’t count. Oh, wait...

[KarlInOhio]

Is it in the plug or the jack division? Or plug rewired into a jack after manufacturing?

[Theo]

A man-made machine is faster than a man?

Big deal.

[know.your.why]

A man-made machine is faster than a man?

I keep seeing that argument here. A little simplistic dont you think? Why are we ignoring the obvious implications? Do you really think that this tech is intended for benign applications only? Am I missing something? Here's what IS gong to happen (almost certainly already has in covert black sites). In the not too distant future, AI driven design and code will open the door to near perfect human emulation. Add to that almost infinite "stamina" via revolutionary battery design and super efficient solar recharge, much stronger and faster... What could possibly go wrong? /s

[ProgressingAmerica]

Wont be long now, the machines will be taking our plumbing jobs, taking our electrician jobs, taking our welding jobs, and taking our HVAC jobs.

No career is safe.

[ProgressingAmerica]

* No career is safe from AI. They can make them humanoids, the machines can do everything we do.

Better. For 24 hours.

[Carry_Okie]

No. I have a profession too delicate, yet demanding strength, too rugged, too dirty, demanding extreme fine motor skills with delicate tactile feedback for long hours, at highly variable work far from power sources. Extreme visual demands. Massive knowledge requirements.

Do all that for a price.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

I wonder if that robot has slanty eyes.

[Big Red Badger]

We had a Good Run

[Big Red Badger]

You’re either a Photographer
Or
Fisherman.

[HombreSecreto]

Wasn’t there a TV show about that in the 70s?

[Sirius Lee]

Wait until they’re programmed for martial arts and equipped with guns and knives/chainsaws.

[Bosco127]

We should worry about thousands of robots like these showing up on the battlefield.

[maddog55]

I’m trying to think why anyone would new a running robot.

[maddog55]

Need.. damn it.

[Sirius Lee]

I’m trying to think why anyone would new a running robot.

To hunt running dog yankee hegemons.

[Vaduz]

Humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m record.

Just in buzz saws and cut wood faster then man.

[cgbg]

Congrats—you will be one of the five percent of the population with jobs.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

Can a robot egg roll eating champion be next?