Published on: 2026-04-19
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Beijing, April 19 /Xinhua/ — On April 19, the Beijing half marathon was held in the Yichuan area combined with a half marathon for humanoid robots for the 2026 year. The robot-humanoid “Molniya,” developed by the Chinese company Shenzhen Honor Smart Technology Co., Ltd., won with a net time of 50 minutes 26 seconds, surpassing the world record among men in the half marathon distance—57 minutes 20 seconds, set by the outstanding Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in March this year at the Lisbon half marathon.
At 7:30 a.m., at the signal of the starting pistol, all runners, including robots and humans, simultaneously began the race. About 12 thousand human runners and more than 300 humanoid robot runners from more than a hundred robotic teams competed on a track approximately 21 km long.
The development of humanoid robots and the growth of the corresponding industry in China are gaining rapid momentum. Ichhuan is an important center for research, development, and industrial application of robotics in Beijing. This is already the second half-marathon held in the Chinese capital with the simultaneous participation of humanoid robots and people. The event is designed to stimulate scientific research and the practical application of humanoid robots.
According to the race rules, humanoid robots start one after another, one at a time, at intervals of 30 seconds, and run on a specially designated track.
Judging by the performance at the competition, overall results at the finish have significantly improved: noticeable progress has been made in aspects such as autonomous operation stability, smoothness of feedback, and algorithm robustness. A small step for a robot – a giant leap for science and human technology. Continuous running over a 21 km distance is not only a test for human muscles and endurance but also a test for complex robot systems, such as visual perception, intellectual recognition, battery capacity, and more.
“This requires the robot to have the ability to move independently along the route, which is a serious test of its maneuverability,” noted Zhao Minggo, a researcher at the Faculty of Automation at Tsinghua University. In his opinion, these conditions create a key transitional environment for robots from “laboratory testing” to “application in real conditions.” Participating teams will be able to obtain valuable data here, which will accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies such as embodied intelligence and motion control.
Sui Xiaolan, Chairman of the Board of the China Electronics Association, previously stated that Chinese humanoid robots, having passed the stage of solving the most complex technological tasks to leadership in the industry, have become conductors, directing its development on a planetary scale. In the future, it will be necessary to increase efforts to develop the industry and optimize the ecosystem of industrial innovations, in order to make it an important driver of the development of productive forces of a new quality both in China and worldwide. -0-
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