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Robot Beats Human Half-Marathon Record in Beijing
- On Sunday, April 19, 2026, Honor's humanoid robot Shandian won the Beijing E-Town humanoid robot half-marathon by completing the 21-kilometer course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
- Participation surged to more than 100 teams this year, marking significant progress from the 2025 inaugural race where winning robots took over 2 hours to finish the course.
- Although Honor's remotely controlled Lightning model crossed the finish line first in 48 minutes and 19 seconds, it was denied the championship under weighted scoring rules favoring autonomous navigation.
- Beating the human half-marathon world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds, the winning robot's performance demonstrated robotic capability surpassing elite athletes, though some competitors required assistance after crashing.
- China invested 73.5 billion yuan in robotics and embodied AI in 2025, positioning humanoids for eventual deployment in housework, elderly companionship, and dangerous industrial roles.
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296 Articles
An autonomous robot runs 21 kilometers in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. This way, it undercuts the fastest man's time by about 7 minutes. The victory shows how fast robotics is developing at present.
A special half marathon was run in China, in which, in addition to people, humanoid robots participated.
Humanoid robots have completed a half marathon faster than human runners for the first time in China.
China's robot half-marathon broke an important record — and made for plenty of laughs
Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesChina's humanoid robot half-marathon produced a record-breaking run.Still, falls and mishaps during the race drew attention and laughs.A robot was carried off on a stretcher, while another had engineers in pursuit.China once again staged a half-marathon for humanoid robots. It delivered a record — and plenty of chaos.A robot from Chinese smartphone and gadget maker Honor clocked 50 minutes and 26 seconds at the event in …
Humanoid robot beats human world record for half marathon in China
Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector’s rapid technical advances.
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