Watch: Moment humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m record
Constantvpn.com – In a scene that looked pulled straight from science fiction, a humanoid robot sprinted the 100-metre dash in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games held in China, officially eclipsing the human world record. The machine, engineered by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics, crossed the finish line faster than any athlete has ever done, shaving nearly two-tenths of a second off the benchmark set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. The moment captured on camera — the one you can watch in full — shows the robot’s mechanical limbs cycling at a speed that leaves human sprinters in the dust.
Bolt, an eight-time Olympic gold medallist, established the 100-metre world record of 9.58 seconds back in 2009, a mark that stood for over fifteen years. Now that record belongs to a machine. The robot’s 9.39-second run at the World Humanoid Robot Games means that, on paper, no human being has ever run the distance faster. The achievement underscores how rapidly bipedal robotics has advanced from clumsy laboratory prototypes to competitors that can outpace the fastest humans on the planet.
How the Robot Outran Its Rivals
The sprint was not a solo exhibition. Two other humanoid robots entered the race, and the Beijing-built machine finished ahead of both. Among its competitors was a robot manufactured by Honor, the Chinese smartphone company, whose engineers claim the unit clocked 9.32 seconds during a closed test run. That figure, if verified in competition, would place the Honor-built robot even further ahead of Bolt’s mark, though the official race result at the Games went to the Beijing Innovation Centre entry.
The World Humanoid Robot Games, which opened on Saturday, are far from limited to track events. The programme also features boxing matches, football (soccer) contests, and a series of household-task challenges in which robots attempt chores such as folding laundry. The breadth of the schedule signals that organisers view humanoid robotics as a general-purpose discipline rather than a single-sport curiosity, and the sprint event simply provided the most visually dramatic headline of the opening days.
BBC China correspondent Laura Bicker, reporting from Beijing, noted that the crowd reaction to the robot’s sprint was indistinguishable from the roar that greets a human world-record attempt. The blend of spectacle and genuine engineering milestone made the event a viral sensation across Chinese social media within hours of the race.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the robot actually break Usain Bolt’s world record? Yes. The humanoid robot completed the 100-metre sprint in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games, beating Bolt’s 9.58-second record set in 2009. Because the run took place at a robotics competition rather than an IAAF/World Athletics-sanctioned meet, it is not recognised as an official athletics world record, but the time itself is faster than any human has ever posted.
Who built the robot that ran the race? The sprinting robot was developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics, a research institution based in China’s capital. It competed against two other humanoid units, including one produced by Honor, a Chinese consumer-electronics company.
What other events were part of the World Humanoid Robot Games? Beyond the 100-metre sprint, the Games featured boxing, football, and domestic-task challenges such as folding laundry. The multi-event format is designed to test robots across a range of physical and cognitive capabilities, not just raw speed.
Where can I watch the footage of the robot beating the record? The full clip of the moment the humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m record was broadcast by the BBC and is available through its video platform. The clip shows the robot’s entire sprint from start to finish, including the finish-line crossing.
The robot’s 9.39-second run does not rewrite the athletics rulebook, but it rewrites the public’s sense of what a bipedal machine can do in a single afternoon.
