{"id":389172,"date":"2026-04-20T19:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389172\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:15:10","slug":"a-chinese-android-just-ran-a-half-marathon-faster-than-any-human-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389172\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chinese android just ran a half-marathon faster than any human ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chris Lau and Beijing Bureau, CNN<\/p>\n

\"Humanoid<\/p>\n

\nHumanoid robot Lightning runs after crossing the finish line.
\nPhoto: Maxim Shemetov\/Reuters via CNN Newsource\n<\/p>\n

They were trailing behind their human rivals a year ago. But on Sunday (all times local), an android outpaced the entire field to run a half-marathon faster than even the quickest human.<\/p>\n

Lightning, a running robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, finished the 21-kilometer run in Beijing in a stunning 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the human world record by more than six minutes.<\/p>\n

The human record – of 57 minutes and 20 seconds – is held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo, according to World Athletics.<\/p>\n

Swinging its short forearms for balance, the bright-red humanoid, standing 169cm tall, showed no sign of having to slow down as it dashed past the finish line.<\/p>\n

The remarkable feat represents a big stride for China in its technological rivalry with the US, which has thus far boasted more sophisticated humanoid models.<\/p>\n

China’s robot industry has accelerated since 2015, when the government listed robotics as one of 10 key sectors in a blueprint for upgrading Chinese industries and shedding its reputation as the world’s cheap-labor factory.<\/p>\n

In a 2023 policy document, officials identified humanoid robotics as a “new frontier in technological competition,” setting a 2025 target for mass production and secure supply chains for core components. That focus was carried over into China’s economic plan for the next five years.<\/p>\n

\"Lightning<\/p>\n

\nLightning runs towards the finish line.
\nPhoto: Maxim Shemetov\/Reuters via CNN Newsource\n<\/p>\n

Such ambitions have led to a boom in robot sporting events across China over the past year.<\/p>\n

Last year, Beijing hosted the world’s first Humanoid Robot Games, which put machines through their paces in soccer, boxing, martial arts and other sports.<\/p>\n

And at China’s annual televised new-year extravaganza a few months ago, robots donning kung-fu outfits delighted and amazed viewers with their martial arts choreography.<\/p>\n

More than 100 teams took part this year’s humanoid half-marathon – nearly five times as many as last year, when the contest debuted, but delivered mainly disappointing performances.<\/p>\n

Zhao Haijie and Wang Qiaoxia won the men’s and women’s race in the human category on Sunday, respectively, both requiring more than an hour.<\/p>\n

Lightning also outran the previous champion robot, by almost two hours.<\/p>\n

Its autonomous navigation and burst power “proved key to winning the race,” the half-marathon organizer wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

– CNN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chris Lau and Beijing Bureau, CNN Humanoid robot Lightning runs after crossing the finish line. Photo: Maxim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-389172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}