VIDEO | Humans far behind as robot breaks record at Beijing half marathon A humanoid robot competing against flesh-and-blood runners broke the world record at a Beijing half marathon on Sunday, showcasing the rapid technological advancement achieved by Chinese makers.
Spectators lined the roads in Yizhuang in the capital’s south to watch the machines and their human rivals race, each group in a separate lane to avoid accidents or collisions.
Some of the robots were highly agile, moving like famous runners such as Usain Bolt, while others had more basic capabilities.
The winning humanoid, equipped with an autonomous navigation system and running for Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed the roughly 21-kilometre (13-mile) course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, at an average speed of about 25 kilometres per hour, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
That was far faster than the top human in Sunday’s race, while also surpassing the current men’s world record of 57:20 held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.
The result represented spectacular progress from last year, when robot-runners fell repeatedly and the best took more than two hours and 40 minutes to finish.
The number of humanoid entries jumped from around 20 last year to more than 100, according to organisers, a sign of the sector’s growing popularity.
Pretty cool
Han Chenyu, a 25-year-old student who watched the race from behind a safety barrier, barely had time to take out her phone and snap a picture of the leading robot as it whizzed past.
She told AFP she was enthusiastic about such leaps in technology and thought the event was “pretty cool”.
But, she added, “as someone who works for a living, I’m a little worried about it sometimes. I feel like technology is advancing so fast that it might start affecting people’s jobs”, particularly with artificial intelligence growing increasingly sophisticated.
Humanoid robots have become a common sight in China in recent years, in the media as well as in public spaces.
Xie Lei, 41, who watched Sunday’s race with his family, said robots could “become part of our daily lives” within several years, potentially used for “things like housework, elderly companionship or basic caregiving” or “dangerous jobs, even firefighting”.
The humanoid half marathon aims to encourage innovation and popularise the technologies used in creating and operating such machines.
In a sign of the industry’s strength, investment in robotics and so-called embodied AI amounted to 73.5 billion yuan ($10.8 billion) in China in 2025, according to a study by a government agency.
“For thousands of years, humans have been at the top on planet Earth. But now, look at robots. Just in terms of autonomous navigation, at least in this specific sport event, they’re already starting to surpass us,” Xie said.
“On one hand, it does make you feel a little bit sad for humanity. But at the same time, technology, especially in recent years, has given us so much imagination.”
Published on Apr 19, 2026
#VIDEO #Humans #robot #breaks #record #Beijing #marathon
A humanoid robot competing against flesh-and-blood runners broke the world record at a Beijing half marathon on Sunday, showcasing the rapid technological advancement achieved by Chinese makers.
Spectators lined the roads in Yizhuang in the capital’s south to watch the machines and their human rivals race, each group in a separate lane to avoid accidents or collisions.
Some of the robots were highly agile, moving like famous runners such as Usain Bolt, while others had more basic capabilities.
The winning humanoid, equipped with an autonomous navigation system and running for Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed the roughly 21-kilometre (13-mile) course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, at an average speed of about 25 kilometres per hour, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
That was far faster than the top human in Sunday’s race, while also surpassing the current men’s world record of 57:20 held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.
The result represented spectacular progress from last year, when robot-runners fell repeatedly and the best took more than two hours and 40 minutes to finish.
The number of humanoid entries jumped from around 20 last year to more than 100, according to organisers, a sign of the sector’s growing popularity.
Pretty cool
Han Chenyu, a 25-year-old student who watched the race from behind a safety barrier, barely had time to take out her phone and snap a picture of the leading robot as it whizzed past.
She told AFP she was enthusiastic about such leaps in technology and thought the event was “pretty cool”.
But, she added, “as someone who works for a living, I’m a little worried about it sometimes. I feel like technology is advancing so fast that it might start affecting people’s jobs”, particularly with artificial intelligence growing increasingly sophisticated.
Humanoid robots have become a common sight in China in recent years, in the media as well as in public spaces.
Xie Lei, 41, who watched Sunday’s race with his family, said robots could “become part of our daily lives” within several years, potentially used for “things like housework, elderly companionship or basic caregiving” or “dangerous jobs, even firefighting”.
The humanoid half marathon aims to encourage innovation and popularise the technologies used in creating and operating such machines.
In a sign of the industry’s strength, investment in robotics and so-called embodied AI amounted to 73.5 billion yuan ($10.8 billion) in China in 2025, according to a study by a government agency.
“For thousands of years, humans have been at the top on planet Earth. But now, look at robots. Just in terms of autonomous navigation, at least in this specific sport event, they’re already starting to surpass us,” Xie said.
“On one hand, it does make you feel a little bit sad for humanity. But at the same time, technology, especially in recent years, has given us so much imagination.”
Published on Apr 19, 2026
![Tough time, but we’ll stay together: Harmanpreet Kaur after second successive T20I defeat India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted her team is going through a tough phase but stressed the need to stick together and bounce back after suffering its second successive defeat to South Africa in the women’s T20 International series here on Sunday.India went down meekly by eight wickets in the second women’s T20I to trail 0-2 in the five-match series here on Sunday.Asked to bat first, India was all out for 147 and SA chased down the target quite comfortably, reaching 148 for 2 in 17.1 overs.“Tough time. We as a team need to stay together,” Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.READ | Wolvaardt, Luus fifties help South Africa script 8-wicket win over India“Hopefully, we’ll go (to Johannesburg for the third match on April 22) with positive approach. T20 format is like that: it’s about staying together.” Harmanpreet rued that her team could not do well in the death-over batting and powerplay bowling.“I think with bat, we were not able to contribute the way we wanted. Last ten overs of the innings we did not bat well. We need to think how we go about next three matches. When you’re not getting the shots, rotating strike is a key point. We were discussing… we can rotate strike and it can help us through that time. But it’s a time when things didn’t work.“Powerplay, while bowling, is not going our way.”Opener Shafali Verma was the lone bright spot for India with a 38-ball 57, which was studded with seven fours and two sixes.“Shafali been a great talent for us. Hope she’ll continue [the same way] for us,” the skipper said.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said restricting India to 147 all out was a good job done by her side.“Pretty good catching, one or two put down, but we took one or two good ones as well. After start they had, restricting them was great,” she said.“The area we struggled with last season (death bowling), bowlers identified bowling slower ones into the wicket was helping. It’s something we’ve talked a lot about. Being present on the cricket field. Little things showing on the field.”Published on Apr 19, 2026 #Tough #time #stay #Harmanpreet #Kaur #successive #T20I #defeat](https://i3.wp.com/ss-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/bu83ep/article70881962.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1200/HARMAN%20KAUR.jpg?ssl=1 "Tough time, but we’ll stay together: Harmanpreet Kaur after second successive T20I defeat India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted her team is going through a tough phase but stressed the need to stick together and bounce back after suffering its second successive defeat to South Africa in the women’s T20 International series here on Sunday.India went down meekly by eight wickets in the second women’s T20I to trail 0-2 in the five-match series here on Sunday.Asked to bat first, India was all out for 147 and SA chased down the target quite comfortably, reaching 148 for 2 in 17.1 overs.“Tough time. We as a team need to stay together,” Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.READ | Wolvaardt, Luus fifties help South Africa script 8-wicket win over India“Hopefully, we’ll go (to Johannesburg for the third match on April 22) with positive approach. T20 format is like that: it’s about staying together.” Harmanpreet rued that her team could not do well in the death-over batting and powerplay bowling.“I think with bat, we were not able to contribute the way we wanted. Last ten overs of the innings we did not bat well. We need to think how we go about next three matches. When you’re not getting the shots, rotating strike is a key point. We were discussing… we can rotate strike and it can help us through that time. But it’s a time when things didn’t work.“Powerplay, while bowling, is not going our way.”Opener Shafali Verma was the lone bright spot for India with a 38-ball 57, which was studded with seven fours and two sixes.“Shafali been a great talent for us. Hope she’ll continue [the same way] for us,” the skipper said.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said restricting India to 147 all out was a good job done by her side.“Pretty good catching, one or two put down, but we took one or two good ones as well. After start they had, restricting them was great,” she said.“The area we struggled with last season (death bowling), bowlers identified bowling slower ones into the wicket was helping. It’s something we’ve talked a lot about. Being present on the cricket field. Little things showing on the field.”Published on Apr 19, 2026 #Tough #time #stay #Harmanpreet #Kaur #successive #T20I #defeat")
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