Robot Athletes in China

During August 22 to 26, 2026, an “Olympics” for humanoid robots happened in Beijing, China. All the competitors were robots which were from 16 different countries. Some of the robots lost the game because of program malfunction, while some others won the game and even broke human records.

This competition which was dedicated to accelerating breakthroughs in humanoid robots’ physical competencies, collaborative intelligence, and scenario-based services, facilitating their faster and more effective integration into human life. This year was the second edition of this competition, and the Beijing municipal government hosts it annually. Both editions were held in the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. In all, there were 16 different countries, 666 teams, and 2056 humanoid robots that joined the competition.

This competition is different from the human Olympics because it only covers some of the events. Even though it has less events than Olympics, it has some events that the Olympics don’t have, for example tug-of-war, pitch-pot, Tai-Chi, and dance. These games test robots’ balance, strength, and sensitivity.

One of the most famous robot athletes, Tiangong Ultra, made by the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics, broke most of the human track and field records. It beat Usain Bolt’s record with a time of 8.64 second for the 100-meter-sprint. Although Tiangong Ultra also won the first place during last edition, it used 21.50 seconds, which was shortened by nearly 13 seconds this time.

Tiangong Ultra also beat the record for the standing high jump and the 400-meter sprint with a height of 3.40 meters and 38.15 seconds. About one and a half minutes for the 400-meter sprint and 0.956 meters for the high jump were the records last year! What a development!

There were exciting parts during these games, but there were also regrettable parts. For the running races, robots couldn’t stop in time, so they had to crash into the safety padding, which was beyond the finish line. Some of the robots burst into pieces and burned after they crashed into the paddings.

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