A humanoid robot has been declared champion at a half-marathon held in Beijing on Sunday, far outpacing human participants and beating the human world record.
The autonomously navigated robot Shandian was awarded the title after a remote-controlled robot, Lightning, who crossed the line first, was denied the prize under the event’s weighted scoring rules.
Shandian completed the 21-kilometre course in Beijing’s Yizhuang district in 50:26, while Lightning recorded 48:19. Both times were faster than the human half-marathon record set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who ran 57:20 at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March.
At last year’s inaugural event in Beijing, the fastest robot took just over 2 hours and 40 minutes, showing rapid improvement in robotic running performance.
Thousands of human runners competed alongside robots from about 100 companies and research institutions, with barriers separating the robots’ track from the human course. The route included more than 10 terrain types—flat roads, slopes, curves and narrow sections—to test robotic capabilities. A robot also acted as a traffic officer, directing participants with arm gestures and voice.
Not all robots handled the course: some fell at the start and others collided with barriers. Beijing E-Town said roughly 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the remainder were remotely controlled.
China is pushing to become a global leader in robotics, supporting local firms through subsidies and infrastructure projects.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah