Humanoid robots are getting pretty good at running; however, picking up beans with tweezers or opening a jar is another story.
Several robots just beat human running records at the second annual World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, where more than 2,000 humanoid machines are competing in everything from sprinting and kickboxing to sorting books and charging EVs, according to Reuters.
Two robots ran the 100-meter sprint faster than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record. A Tiangong Ultra robot, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, finished in 9.39 seconds, while Honor’s Lightning robot finished at 9.47 seconds.
WATCH: Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m world record on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. Read more here: https://t.co/aHbmKfOG3h pic.twitter.com/Ft0GZWbyBs
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 23, 2026
This was just days after Unitree posted a video showing off its new “Superman” humanoid robot, which the company says can reach a top speed of 12.66 meters per second, faster than Bolt’s peak speed during his world-record run.
Another Tiangong Ultra robot completed 400 meters in udner 40 seconds, beating Wayde van Niekerk’s human world record of 43.03 seconds.
400 m final, TianGong won the championship–38.15s，breaking the human world record once again！ pic.twitter.com/lhIcUy83P9
— TianGong Robotics (@Xhumanoid_BJ) August 23, 2026
The five-day event kicked off Saturday, August 22, and runs through August 26 at Beijing’s 12,000-seat National Speed Skating Oval, a venue originally built for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
This year’s edition is much larger than last year’s inaugural Games. A total of 666 teams registered to compete with 2,056 robots, up from 280 teams and roughly 500 robots in 2025. The number of events has also nearly doubled from 26 to 51.
Those 51 events are split into two categories. Thirty are competitions based on sports like track and field, tug-of-war, weightlifting, soccer, and table tennis. The other 21 are scenario-based events meant to test how robots perform jobs in settings such as factories, hotels, homes, and stores.
Slow-motion look at the 400m champion’s running form at the World Humanoid Robot Games. pic.twitter.com/Yt2Vp8DLcx
— Eren Chen (@ErenChenAI) August 24, 2026
Those work-focused events include things like book sorting, food and beverage service, fire rescue, and charging EVs.
Within the scenario-based events, there are eight competitions specifically focused on dexterous hand movements like opening lids, assembling power tools, unpacking boxes, connecting cables, and picking up beans with tweezers.
The competition rules also give a sense of which abilities have advanced further than others.
Basic running races, soccer, table tennis, and dancing events require robots to operate autonomously. More difficult events such as weightlifting, kickboxing, and jumping competitions still allow teams to remotely control their robots.
The scenario-based competitions similarly reward autonomy. Robots generally receive full credit for completing tasks autonomously, while tasks completed via remote control receive only half credit.
WATCH: A humanoid robot training for the “Robot Olympics” in Beijing runs too fast, fails to stop, slams into a safety cushion, and breaks at the waist pic.twitter.com/WEHdYCiPlO
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 20, 2026
The Games’ website says the event “brings together leading forces from around the globe in the fields of robot research, development, and application” and is dedicated to “facilitating their faster and more effective integration into human life.”
This all comes as China is pouring tons of money and support into robotics. In 2025, the country announced a state-backed venture capital fund aimed at attracting 1 trillion yuan ($148 billion) in public and private investment for AI, robotics, and other high-tech startups over the next 20 years.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is still lacking a national robotics strategy that companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics have urged lawmakers to develop to better compete with China.
The U.S. government has also increasingly treated Chinese robots as a national security concern. Just last month, the FCC moved to ban imports of foreign-made humanoid and other advanced robots over cybersecurity and supply chain risks.
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