It was in Beijing, 18 years back, when Usain Bolt announced his arrival to the world with a 100-metre gold in a breathtaking world record time of 9.69 seconds. A year later, he took down his own record to script history in Berlin, completing the 100-metre dash in just 9.58 seconds.
That record has stood to date, but Bolt seems to have a new challenger, and it’s not a human.
At the ongoing World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds in a preliminary heat on Saturday, beating the men’s world record held by the Jamaican.
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won its heat at the opening of the games’ second edition. It wasn’t the only humanoid robot that beat Bolt’s record. Smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning, who finished second in the same heat, completed the 100-metre dash in 9.47 seconds.
However, the only difference was that neither of the two robots had the flair of Bolt as both slammed straight into a thick mat designed to stop them in their tracks, with Tiangong stumbling wildly into the sidelines, forcing onlookers to move out of the way. Lightning was carried away on a stretcher after collapsing to the ground.
The results, nevertheless, marked a significant improvement over the inaugural games last year, when Tiangong Ultra won the 100-metre race with a time of 21.50 seconds. It had also won the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing last year.
Earlier on Saturday, Chinese state media had reported that Lightning had run 100 metres in 9.32 seconds during a preparatory test, thus reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second. This humanoid robot had won this year’s half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the pace of the elite men’s world record.
Lightning stood 169 cm tall and had 95-cm legs during the half-marathon. Its researchers later lengthened its legs by 10 cm, to 1.05 metres, ahead of the games, according to broadcaster CCTV.
The 100 metres is among 51 events at the games, which include football, dancing and industrial-task contests.