Humanoid robots broke a half-marathon record held by a human runner during a sports event in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the unpredictable potential of their capabilities.

4月19日，在北京举行的一场体育赛事中，人形机器人打破了人类选手保持的半程马拉松纪录，凸显出其能力发展的巨大潜力。

"Flash", a robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, won the 2026 Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, taking 50 minutes and 26 seconds to finish the 21-kilometer race on Sunday morning.

由中国智能手机制造商荣耀研发的机器人"闪电"，在周日上午举行的2026北京亦庄半程马拉松暨人形机器人半程马拉松赛中夺冠，以50分26秒的成绩跑完21公里赛程。

The previous human record was 57 minutes and 20 seconds, which was set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo in March in Lisbon, Portugal.

此前的人类纪录为57分20秒，由乌干达选手雅各布·基普利莫今年3月在葡萄牙里斯本创造。

The performance was a significant step forward from last year's inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds, and, among the nearly 20 participating teams, only six robots completed the race.

与去年首届赛事相比，此次成绩实现了重大飞跃。去年夺冠机器人完赛用时2小时40分42秒，且近20支参赛队伍中仅有6台机器人跑完全程。

This year, more than 100 teams took to the track. The range of participating teams expanded from five provinces last year to 13 provinces this year, and the event also attracted five international teams, with a new record set for the race completion rate.

今年，超过100支队伍踏上赛道。参赛队伍覆盖省份从去年的5个扩大至今年的13个，赛事还吸引了5支国际队伍参赛，完赛率创下新高。

The top three finishers, including the champion, runner-up and second runner-up, were all humanoid robots produced by Honor, a newcomer to the field, which has transitioned from manufacturing mobile phones "in just one year", Du Xiaodi, the company's engineer and coach of the champion robot, said after the event.

冠、亚、季军全部由荣耀公司生产的人形机器人包揽。作为该领域的新入局者，荣耀从手机制造跨界转型"仅用了一年时间"，该公司工程师兼冠军机器人教练杜晓迪在赛后表示。

The company has not yet ventured into product sales and is still addressing challenges in the research and development of independent electric motors, he added.

他补充说，公司尚未涉足产品销售，目前仍在攻克自主研发电机方面的难题。

Other competitors in the event included branded robots from companies such as Unitree and Noetix.

其他参赛选手包括宇树科技、Noetix（松延动力）等企业的品牌机器人。

One of the most amusing scenes of last year's event was human engineers running after robots while holding their computers.

去年赛事最引人发笑的场景之一，是人类工程师抱着电脑跟在机器人后面奔跑。

But this year, more than 40 percent of the teams competed autonomously, with their robots relying entirely on sensors, cameras and other devices to perceive their surroundings in real time, and independently completing a series of complex tasks such as localization, mapping, path planning and dynamic obstacle avoidance.

但今年，超过40%的队伍实现了自主竞赛，机器人完全依靠传感器、摄像头等设备实时感知周围环境，自主完成定位建图、路径规划和动态避障等一系列复杂任务。

Notably, the track this year was more challenging than last year's, with additional curves, slopes and uphill and downhill sections added to put the robots' adaptive capabilities to a tougher test.

值得注意的是，今年赛道难度较去年更大，新增了弯道、坡道以及上下坡路段，对机器人的环境适应能力提出了更严苛的考验。

The top three robots all autonomously navigated through scenic areas, including a milu deer park and a tree-lined avenue in E-Town, which is also known as Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.

获得前三名的机器人均自主穿越了亦庄（即北京经济技术开发区）的麋鹿苑和林荫大道等景观区域。

Jiang Guangzhi, Party secretary and director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, said: "Beijing is positioning humanoid robots as an innovation and economic pillar, following in the footsteps of smartphones and smart connected vehicles, and as a future industry with strategic significance.

北京市经济和信息化局党组书记、局长姜广智表示："北京正将人形机器人定位为继智能手机、智能网联汽车之后的又一创新经济支柱，以及具有战略意义的未来产业。"

"We are creating various scenarios for the new economic engine in different areas of the city," he added.

"我们正在城市不同区域为这一新经济引擎创造多样化的应用场景。"

Beijing has established robot training grounds and data collection centers exceeding 18,000 square meters in areas such as E-Town, as well as in Haidian and Shijingshan districts.

他补充说，北京已在亦庄、海淀、石景山等地建成超过1.8万平方米的机器人训练场和数据采集中心。

These facilities collect hundreds of thousands of hours of high-quality data annually, effectively supporting innovation and technological iteration for numerous startups and leading enterprises.

这些设施每年可采集数十万小时的高质量数据，有力支撑了众多初创企业和龙头企业的创新与技术迭代。

An action plan for embodied intelligent technology innovation and industry cultivation indicates that by 2027, Beijing aims to achieve a domestically integrated upstream and downstream industry chain for embodied int...

英语新闻丨机器人半马超越人类选手