Chinese robot breaks Bolt’s record: it runs the 100 metres in 9’32”

A humanoid robot developed by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor has run 100 metres in 9 minutes and 32 seconds, beating the human world record held by the great Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. This was reported by the Chinese state broadcaster. The news has been widely covered by the international media. The robot, nicknamed Lightning, reached a top speed of 14.5 metres per second during a trial event for the second edition of the World Humanoid Robotics Games, which opened in Beijing today. The performance surpassed the men’s 100-metre world record of 9.58 seconds set by Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

In April, Lightning had also won the 21-kilometre Beijing Half Marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, a time faster than the men’s world record. The robot was 169 cm tall and had legs measuring 95 cm during the half marathon. The researchers then lengthened its legs by 10 cm, bringing them to 1.05 metres, ahead of the World Humanoid Robot Games, as reported by China Central Television.