A humanoid robot runs after a human: NPR

BEIJING – A humanoid robot won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday, running faster than a human world record in a demonstration of China’s technological leap.

The winner from Chinese smartphone maker Honor completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) run in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post from the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race started.

It was also faster than human world record holder Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, who covered the same distance in about 57 minutes at the Lisbon Road Race in March.

The robot’s performance marked a significant step forward from last year’s inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

But the competition, which was held alongside a race involving humans, was not without setbacks – one robot fell at the start line, another collided with a barrier.

A robot collides with a board after crossing the finish line at the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held on the outskirts of Beijing on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

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Andy Wong/AP

Du Xiaodi, Honor’s test development engineer, said his team is pleased with the results. Du said its robot design was based on elite human athletes, with long legs measuring about 95 cm (about 37 inches), and was equipped with a powerful liquid-cooling system, largely developed in-house.

“Looking ahead, some of these technologies may be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology may be applied in future industrial scenarios,” he said.

Although it will still take time for humanoid robots to achieve widespread commercialization, audiences were already impressed by the robots. Sun Zhigang, who was in the audience last year, watched Sunday’s race with his son.

“I feel a huge change this year,” Sun said. “This is the first time that robots have overtaken humans, and it’s something I never imagined.”

Wang Wen, who came with his family, said the robots seemed to have stolen most of the spotlight from the human runners at the event.

“The speed of robots is much greater than that of humans,” he said. “This may signal the arrival of a new era.”

Beijing E-Town said about 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were controlled remotely.

A separate, remotely controlled robot from Honor was the first robot to cross the finish line in 48 minutes and 19 seconds, state media outlet Global Times reported. But it said the winner used autonomous navigation and received the championship under the event’s weighted scoring rules.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the runners-up, who were also from Honor and used autonomous navigation, completed the race in about 51 minutes and 53 minutes respectively. CCTV said a robot posing as a traffic officer directed participants with hand gestures and voice.

A robot runs while competing in the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon on the outskirts of Beijing on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

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In China, technology has developed into an area of ​​competition with the US with national security implications. Beijing’s latest five-year plan pledges to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Accelerating the development of products such as humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three Chinese companies – AGIBOT, Unitri Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp – as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

The report said they all shipped more than 1,000 units of robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units.