Humanoid robot beats human half-marathon world record in Beijing

A humanoid robot named Flash crosses the finish line in the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon on the outskirts of Beijing, Sunday. The robot, developed by Shenzhen Honor Smart Technology Development, claimed victory in the half-marathon with a time of 50:26 in autonomous navigation, beating the human world record of 57:20 set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo last month. In the race's inaugural edition in 2025, the fastest record for the same distance was 2:40:42, showing the progress of robotic technology. AP-Yonhap

BEIJING — A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China's technological leaps.

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race kicked off.

That was faster than the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March.

A robot runs in the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Half Marathon in Beijing, April 19. AFP-Yonhap

The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward from last year's inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

The scale of this year's event was almost five times bigger than last year's, with more than 100 teams joining the competition, including five from overseas.

A robot resembling a toddler with a milk bottle starts off for the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Half Marathon held on the outskirts of Beijing, April 19. AP-Yonhap

But the race wasn’t without hiccups — one robot fell flat at the start line, another bumped into a barrier.

Beijing E-Town said about 40 percent of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were remotely controlled.

State broadcaster CCTV said a robot served as a traffic officer to direct the participants with it arm gestures and voice.

A robot starts off next to human marathon runners for the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Half Marathon held on the outskirts of Beijing, April 19. AP-Yonhap

In China, technology has evolved into an area of competition with the U.S. with national security implications. Beijing’s latest five-year plan vows to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Speeding up the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

Security personnel and participants use a stretcher to carry a robot after it competed in the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon on the outskirts of Beijing, April 19. AP-Yonhap

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three Chinese companies — AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp. — as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

They all shipped more than 1,000 units of the robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, the report said.