BEIJING, China: The Lightning robot’s 100m run clocked 9.32 seconds during preparations for the World Humanoid Robot Games, beating Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second human world-record time.
Lightning, developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honour, completed the distance in a competition designed to test humanoid machines rather than human athletes.
Bolt set the official men’s 100m world record of 9.58 seconds in Berlin, Germany, in 2009.
Chinese humanoid robot by smartphone maker Honor (“Lightning”) ran 100m in 9.32 seconds (Usain Bolt’s record is 9.58 seconds).
Perhaps more impressively: it crashed into a safety wall without having its waist implode with sparks flying off. pic.twitter.com/Edzg9pzY7s
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) August 22, 2026Lightning’s result therefore does not replace Bolt’s record. The robot did not compete under World Athletics rules or against human sprinters.
Another Chinese humanoid robot, Tiangong Ultra, also finished the distance faster than Bolt’s time, recording 9.39 seconds.
Lightning had previously completed a 21-kilometre half-marathon in Beijing in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, the report said.
The second World Humanoid Robot Games features more than 2,000 robots from 16 countries competing across 51 events, including athletics, football and practical tasks.
