Humanoid ‘Lightning’ robot smashes the half-marathon record

An autonomous humanoid robot named Lightning won a Beijing half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing first overall.

Lightning beat both human runners and other robot competitors, while also setting a new benchmark for robot performance.

Other Lightning models also placed near the top, underscoring rapid gains in humanoid mobility and endurance.

The result highlights how quickly autonomous systems are advancing in real-world long-distance tasks.