In just one year, humanoid robots have gone from barely finishing a race to completing a half-marathon in around 50 minutes. At the 2026 Beijing E-Town half-marathon, the event has become a full-system test of what humanoid robots can actually do outside the lab. 

So how did they improve so fast? And why are global teams coming to China to test their algorithms on real robots? In this episode of Hot Take, CGTN's Zhao Chenchen breaks down the three key reasons behind the leap and what it means for the future of robotics.