Chinese humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m world record in test run

China has unveiled another striking demonstration of its rapidly advancing humanoid-robotics industry, with a robot developed by smartphone maker Honor reportedly completing 100 metres in 9.32 seconds—faster than Usain Bolt's official human world record.

The humanoid, named Lightning, reached a top speed of 14.5 metres per second during a preparatory event ahead of the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, according to China's state broadcaster.

Its reported time of 9.32 seconds is 0.26 seconds faster than Bolt's 9.58-second world record, set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The performance, however, comes with an important distinction: Lightning is a machine competing against human athletes, so its time does not challenge or alter Bolt's official athletics record.

Lightning gets a longer stride

Lightning stands 169 centimetres tall and previously competed in the Beijing half marathon in April, where it reportedly completed the 21-kilometre course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

That performance was already faster than the pace corresponding to the men's human world record for the half marathon.

Ahead of the robot games, researchers modified Lightning by extending its legs by 10 centimetres, bringing them to 1.05 metres, according to China Central Television.

The latest 100-metre performance suggests the engineers are focusing heavily on improving the robot's stride, balance and running efficiency.

China bets big on humanoid robots

The development is part of China's broader push to establish itself as a global leader in humanoid robotics.

Chinese policymakers and technology companies increasingly view humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with expectations that advances in artificial intelligence, sensors, batteries and mechanical engineering will eventually allow robots to work alongside—or replace humans in—areas such as manufacturing, logistics and other commercial applications.

The World Humanoid Robot Games, which opened in Beijing on Saturday, are designed to showcase those developments through competitions that put machines through athletic and practical challenges.

Lightning's performance is particularly eye-catching because it combines two of the most difficult demonstrations for a bipedal robot: maintaining balance while moving rapidly and generating enough mechanical power to sustain high speed.

And while Bolt's 9.58 seconds remains the benchmark for human sprinting, China's Lightning has now offered a very different benchmark—one that highlights just how quickly humanoid machines are evolving.