Even though it only takes place for two days, the scaled-down international sports competition Cybathlon is still called "Bionic Olympic Games" by many. 

From November 13 to 14, 2020, the quadrennial Cybathlon of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) held its second edition. But unlike its first competition, participants did not head to Zurich due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but competed on courses they built in their own countries instead. 

"Cybathlon" is a composite word from "cyber" and "-athlon," which brings to sports games that are played by cyborgs. And that is precisely what it is: "a unique championship in which people with physical disabilities compete against each other to complete everyday tasks using state-​of-the-art technical assistance systems," as Cybathlon describes on its website. 

The "athlete" controlling the bionic equipment is called the "pilot," and the equipment is usually designed by a team that is usually based in a university or robotics company. This year, 51 teams participated in the Cybathlon, including two Chinese teams – Team "Hands On" from the University of Science and Technology in Shandong and Team "Phoenix" from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It's the first time the Chinese mainland's team took part in the competition. 

Since the competition was held across different countries, rules were also tweaked to accommodate it. Each competitor had three hours to make three attempts at an obstacle course, with the best attempt counting towards their result. Race results and winners were not revealed – even to the teams themselves – before Cybathlon organizers streamed the races in the live event.

Between five and 13 teams competed in each discipline. The host Switzerland sent a total of ten teams to the competition, five of which have ties to ETH Zurich. Teams from the same country competed in the hubs at different times. In Switzerland, two hubs were used: one in Zurich at ETH Zurich's Hoenggerberg campus and one at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne). Official Cybathlon referees were on site to enforce the rules and judge at all race venues around the world. 

For the two Chinese teams, Hands On ranked eighth of 13 in the ARM Race and Phoenix was the last of seven in the BCI Race. 

China's Team Hands On took part in the Cybathlon 2020 ARM race.

The prosthesis consists of a gripper-like prosthetic hand and a ring-shaped, portable control unit which the user wears on the index finger of the intact hand. "We want to produce cost-effective and lightweight prostheses using 3D printing techniques. Our goal is to develop a prosthesis that is extremely easy to use and at the same time has a reliable and effective control mechanism," explained Li Anran, who acts as team manager at CYBATHLON 2020.

Another Chinese team, Team Phoenix from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined in the Cybathlon 2020 BCI Race.

The team has been working on their BCI-technology since 2013 using EEG. "The system does not require long training and our algorithm can automatically determine the best pattern," explained Professor Raymond Kai-Yu Tong.

Originally, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) was also slated to take part in Cybathlon 2020, but quit for unknown reasons. 

In the video below, Lin Han, the pilot of their team showcases how he walks with the exoskeleton robot created by the university.

"Before Lin Han used the exoskeleton robot, his lower body couldn't move at all and had to wear a paper diaper. But after using the robot, his mobility and sensation are similar with those of the ordinary people," Cheng Hong, the Vice-President of UESTC School of Automation Engineering, told CGTN. 

Cybathlon, which is dedicated to the physical disabled, is definitely not as fast-paced as compared to other sporting competitions. And to make it more exciting, organizers put together experienced hosts, commentators and a production team to make the event more like a professional sports event or a live TV show.

However, there are still some uncertainties that may dampen the game's attraction since viewers may be unsure about what they are competing exactly – is the win due to the pilot or technology?

For Cybathlon, both play critical parts. To be able to use the equipment adeptly, pilots, especially hemiplegic competitors, have to practice a lot. And this effort shows, when some of them are moved to tears when crossing the finish line.

At any rate, as a newly-born sports competition, the cooperation between human and machine may just be Cybathlon's unique charm.

The significance of Cybathlon goes beyond the competition, as wearable robotic technology can also be applied for body functional rehabilitation, prosthesis, assisting aging people, as military equipment, as well as construction and manufacturing, express delivery and the entertainment industry.

According to Cheng, there are around 100 organizations in China researching on these domains, but the standards of fabricating the real machines are not mature yet. However, when talking about the future of the bionic technologies, he said: "As China has a big population, the demand for these kinds of things are huge, so related industries may develop faster than those aboard."

(Video source via Cybathlon ETH Zurich, editor: Li Chenqi)