World Humanoid Robot Games: 666 teams, flames, records – and unbridled entertainment
The 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing last week were part-athletics festival, part-war of attrition. The 666 participating robot teams didn’t just join in the games – they also burst into flames and set a few world records along the way.
Last week, the second World Humanoid Robot Games drew to a close in Beijing. For five days, 2,056 robots from 666 teams and 16 countries competed for medals in 51 disciplines and over 1,300 events. The schedule consisted of a curious mix of athletic contests, such as the 100-metre sprint, football and weightlifting, as well as household chores, including making beds, delivering packages and using tweezers to sort beans. The event was held at the National Speed Skating Oval, the speed skating arena used for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Source: World Humanoid Robot Games
When the 100-metre sprint was held last year, the robots were just about as fast as amateur athletes. This year, they shattered records set by human beings. If things continue at this rate, we’ll soon have more time to invest in art, culture and science – provided our metal friends take on our work. Or they might go up in flames beforehand.
Mishaps and spectacle
The event was a huge spectacle – and not just on the sporting front. One robot lost a leg during a sprint, while another crashed into a mat and caught fire. During the weightlifting event, several bots tipped over, while robot cheerleaders stumbled their way through their routines. Viewers hoping for the robots to execute every activity flawlessly were left disappointed. But who wants perfect robots when you can have ones that catch fire?
Mind-bending records
Then, there were the records. In the preliminary 100-metre race, a robot from Team Tianzhuo crossed the finish line in 9.39 seconds – faster than Usain Bolt in his prime. In the final, Tiangong Ultra went one better, finishing in 8.64 seconds. An achievement that takes us into superhuman territory. One robot cleared 2.88 metres in the high jump; the human world record currently stands at 2.45 metres.
Chinese robots dominated the event, with the overwhelming majority of the 666 teams coming from the host country.
A victory for human beings?
The games were a diabolical war of attrition. Robots burst into flames, legs snapped off and the audience wondered who was actually in control. One of the highlights was the football tournament, which saw German team B-Human, a collaboration between the University of Bremen and DFKI, win both the RoboCup Asia-Pacific Championship and the WHRG football competition. The results were impressive: a 24-0 victory in the semifinals and a 13-3 victory in the finals.
The games demonstrated just how far technology has come – and how far it still has to go. The robots were fast, but not reliable. They broke records, but they also broke into pieces. They ran faster than humans, but they also couldn’t slow down properly. The industry will learn from this – and hopefully viewers will still be entertained by the games in the future.
I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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