Honor’s winning robot finished in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. That is faster than the current human world record.
The winning robot was built by Honor, a Huawei spin-off. It crossed the finish line on Sunday in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the half-marathon world record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month. Honor teams took all three podium spots. Every one of them self-navigated the full 21-kilometer course without remote control.
Last year told a very different story. Most robots failed to finish. The 2024 winner clocked 2 hours and 40 minutes. This year, teams grew from 20 to more than 100. Nearly half navigated autonomously. Several robot frontrunners finished more than 10 minutes ahead of professional human athletes.
Honor engineer Du Xiaodi said the winning robot took one year to develop. It has legs 90 to 95 centimeters long, built to mimic elite human runners. Liquid cooling technology, borrowed from smartphone design, kept the system running through the race. “Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer into structural reliability, cooling, and eventually industrial applications,” Du said.
Experts say the race performance does not automatically mean commercial readiness. Factory use still demands manual dexterity and real-world perception. Chinese robotics firms are still developing the AI software needed for that level of work.
China is pushing hard to lead the global humanoid robotics race. Government subsidies, infrastructure investment, and events like the CCTV Spring Festival gala, where Unitree robots performed martial arts alongside human children in February, show how seriously Beijing is treating this industry.
Chinese humanoid robots beat human runners in the Beijing half-marathon, with Honor’s winning robot finishing faster than the current world record as China accelerates its push to lead global robotics.
(Image credit: CNN)