A Chinese robot has broken the world record for fastest half-marathon, and no human on the planet can beat it.

Lightning is a running robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor. It covered a distance of 21 km in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the world human record by more than six minutes. A year ago, these humanoids lagged behind us, their rivals, reports CNN.

The human record (57 minutes 20 seconds), according to World Athletics, belongs to Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.

Using his short forearms to maintain his balance, the 169cm tall, bright red humanoid showed no signs of slowing down as he raced across the finish line.

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This remarkable achievement marks a significant step forward for China in its technological competition with the United States, which has had more advanced humanoid models to date.

China's robotics industry has been rapidly developing since 2015, when the government designated it as one of ten key sectors for industrial modernization and to shed its image as a country with cheap labor.

In a 2023 policy document, authorities identified humanoid robotics as a "new frontier of technological competition" and set a 2025 target of mass production and ensuring reliable supply chains for key components.

Such ambitions have led to a surge in the popularity of robot-powered sports competitions across the country over the past year.

Last year, Beijing hosted the world's first Humanoid Robot Games, where machines competed in football, boxing, martial arts, and other sports.

And at China's annual New Year's television show a few months ago, robots in kung fu suits wowed viewers with their martial arts choreography.

This year, more than 100 teams participated in the humanoid half marathon—almost five times more than last year, when the competition was held for the first time and saw mostly weak results.

Robots Zhao Haijie and Wang Qiaoxia won the men's and women's human races, respectively, both taking more than an hour.

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Lightning also beat the previous robot champion by almost two hours.

Its autonomous navigation and high acceleration power, as the half marathon organizer wrote on social media, "proved key to winning the race."

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