A robot standing under 1.4 metres tall crossed the finish line with its arms raised to its face and body leaning sharply forward, in a pose that looked almost like a "face-covering dash."
On the afternoon and evening of August 23, the second World Humanoid Robot Games hosted finals for multiple track events. In the 400-metre small-class final, the Tiangong robot Omni claimed victory with a time of 45.66 seconds. Its distinctive "shy running style," marked by a forward-leaning torso and hands held close to the face, became the most eye-catching moment of the competition. Earlier, in the 400-metre large-class final, the Tiangong Ultra robot crossed the line first with a winning time of 38.15 seconds. Teams using the Honor Lightning robot, known as Zhuifeng Zai Zai, and Jinghong Dynamics took second and third place respectively.
In the 1500-metre final held that evening, the Tianzhuo team from Tiangong Robotics took the championship with a time of 2 minutes 21.64 seconds. Tiangong Robotics swept three gold medals in a single day, Honor Robotics secured multiple medals, while Unitree Robotics, which excelled in track events last year, has yet to claim any medals in athletics this year.
Across several track finals today, humanoid robot performances repeatedly surpassed human athlete records. But these events test a different kind of capability — while the 400-metre asks how fast an autonomous robot can run, the 1500-metre shifts the question to whether a robot can maintain rhythm, handle curves, and manage heat dissipation during sustained high-speed motion, all while preserving a stable running form to the finish line.
From 88 seconds to 40 seconds in one year
The most visible change in this year's robot 400-metre is speed. At last year's inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, the 400-metre final was won by Gaoyi Technology using the Unitree H1 robot with a time of 1 minute 28.03 seconds, while two teams from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center using the Tiangong Ultra took silver and bronze. One year later, the large-class 400-metre champion has clocked 38.15 seconds — nearly 50 seconds faster than last year's winning mark. And robots are still improving their own records: in the preliminary round, the Tiangong team won its heat in 39.70 seconds, only to shave that down to 38.15 seconds in the final.
This acceleration isn't just about making robot legs move faster. A representative from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center noted that compared to last year, the Tiangong Ultra has been upgraded in joint motors, structural design, and heat dissipation. Higher-power key motors boost athletic capability and explosive force, while lightweight and aerodynamic designs reduce drag during high-speed running. Algorithms have also begun "specialised training" for different distances. Han Gang, a motion control algorithm expert at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, explained that the 100-metre, 400-metre, and 1500-metre place different demands on robots. "The 100-metre requires rapid acceleration, while the 400-metre and 1500-metre demand fast cornering." Particularly in the 400-metre, robots must not only accelerate on the straightaways but also navigate curves at high speed. Adjusting the centre of gravity, maintaining body stability, and controlling joint temperature all impact the final result.
Another change in this year's track events is the disappearance of human operators. At last year's competition, reporters saw numerous human operators running alongside the robots, and there were even instances of robots knocking humans over mid-race. But this year, except for the 100-metre hurdles and 400-metre hurdles, all other events require robots to complete the course fully autonomously. That means operators issue a single command at the start, and the robot handles the rest of the race on its own — making its own decisions and running independently. Tiangong Robotics technicians explained that last year's robots primarily used line-following methods, identifying track lines to complete the course. This year, they've upgraded to autonomous navigation through positioning and mapping, no longer needing to "stare" at the track lines and capable of sprinting at high speed within the lane. From the outside, this technological shift is far less dramatic than the 38.15-second time, but it may be more significant for robots eventually entering real-world environments. Real-world scenarios like inspection, logistics, and disaster rescue won't always provide a clear white line — robots need to judge where they are and where they should go while moving at high speed.
The small-class champion's "shy running style" is itself a result of the robot prioritising speed. Han Gang noted that this robot excels in the waist and legs, actively pressing its body forward during running to lower the centre of gravity, maintaining a high cadence while further extending stride length. The lower the centre of gravity, the larger the stride it can take, ultimately producing the exaggerated posture of a tilted torso with hands near the face. It looks "shy," but in reality, it's thinking about only one thing: running faster.
Robots face the endurance test
Moving from 400 metres to 1500 metres, the increased race distance continuously extends the "stress test" time for robots. At tonight's 1500-metre final, reporters observed multiple teams failing to complete the race. Last year, Lingyi Technology (a subsidiary of Unitree) won the 1500-metre championship in 6 minutes 34 seconds. This year, the winning time has been dramatically compressed to under 3 minutes, with the top three all surpassing human records. However, Unitree has not won any medals this year. According to reports, Unitree robots will still compete in long jump, standing high jump, 400-metre hurdles, and optional boxing events in the coming days.
Just as human athletes experience fatigue during long-distance running, humanoid robots have their own form of "tiredness" — joint and motor overheating. As robots sustain high-speed motion, joint and motor temperatures rise, hardware conditions shift, and previously trained movements may deviate. Typically, the smaller the stride, the more flexible the gait adjustment; the larger the stride, the harder it is to control steering. Han Gang gave an example: a robot might maintain a perfect cornering posture in the first lap, leaning its body at a steep angle without falling. But after three or four laps, as joints continue to heat up, whether it can sustain the same stability depends on coordination between control algorithms and hardware. Similar to human long-distance running, a robot's endurance race can't simply focus on going all-out. "You want it fast, but you also don't want it overheating," Han Gang said, meaning race strategy requires compromise.
The participating Honor team offered a similar assessment, summarising the technical demands of different distances as "the 100-metre tests explosive limits, the 400-metre balances speed and heat dissipation, and the 1500-metre requires managing rhythm, corners, and durability." Their robot was also designed with heat dissipation and joint systems tailored for high-load motion. This is why the 1500-metre race deserves more attention than simply breaking speed records. A robot that runs fast can rely on high-power motors, joints, and motion control algorithms; but to complete 1500 metres at high speed, the battery, motors, joints, heat dissipation, navigation, and control systems must work in coordination for extended periods. If any single component fails, the issue gets amplified after several laps.
The track is just a testing ground. An investor who watched the competition at the venue noted that racing events on one hand push the upper limits of robot athletic capability, and on the other drive hardware reliability to its breaking point. These capabilities aren't meant to keep robots on the track — they could be transferred to scenarios requiring intense mobility, such as long-distance inspection, logistics, and disaster rescue in complex environments. The investor also commented that the games showcase robots' strengths but don't represent their full potential, as robots specifically prepared for the event tend to perform better. The track competition isn't over yet. Next week's 100-metre final will shift the test from endurance back to extreme speed and explosive power.