Editor's note: Ankit Prasad is a CGTN Biz commentator. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

How often does one get to witness a genuinely history-making technological milestone being achieved in front of their eyes? I had that good fortune at the World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, and days later, I am still blown away by the sheer drama and thrill of the spectacle that unfolded before my eyes.

Just a short distance away from the iconic Bird's Nest Stadium where in 2008 Usain Bolt set the world record for the men's 100 m, I saw that achievement not just surpassed but thoroughly eclipsed. Bolt won his 2008 Olympic Gold in the 100 m with a 9.69-second sprint. A year later, he bettered that with a 9.58-second record in Berlin which still stands today... but only for humans. Because at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, multiple robots have outpaced the fastest human to ever live.

Since the games opened, the robots have got faster and faster. It began with a 9.39 second time, two-tenths faster than Bolt. That was already hugely impressive and historic. But by the final, multiple robots had breached the 9 second-barrier, with the final being clinched with an eyewateringly quick time of 8.64 seconds.

These robots are every bit the athletes that their human counterparts are. In the winner Tiangong Ultra's category, they are sleek slim and tall sprinting machines, clearly at the proverbially single-digit body-fat percentage. In some of the other categories, they seem more general: Looking at them one needn't necessarily immediately conclude they're born to run. And yet, run they can! With their own styles, gaits, speeds and structures, they all competed. At least two categories of the robot sprint were impressively quick.

And then there were the rest of the events.

Inside the well-lit covered environs of the National Speed Skating Oval in China's capital, crowds of people as well as robots gathered for a five-day sporting extravaganza like no other. The humans packed the stands — particularly parents with young children. And the robots took centrestage. On the field, multiple challenges were ongoing simultaneously. At one point, before my eyes, I could see two football matches, one kickboxing match, one table-tennis match, and a couple of supermarket-themed activities. The robots for each of them were different — the only commonality being that they were all humanoid.

Many boasted customizations for their respective sports, but more than any design-hack, it was the fluidity of their movements that made them tick. The footballing robots kicked the ball with a kind of side-foot motion that any fan would instantly approve of. One team was so good with its aim that it won its match 7-1, conceding only off an unlucky rebound. The kickboxing robots showed themselves to be capable of very impressive round-house kicks. And when a kick would land, the downed robot would also get back up with a similarly impressive flourish.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this second edition of the games was the remarkable improvement from 2025. One year earlier, the best robots were just about managing a brisk jog. Back then, they were competing to finish — this time they were racing to win! It's a frightening amount of progress in just a year, and yet, it is almost becoming a trend. 

In 2026 already we have seen the dancing robots of the Spring Festival Gala which were lightyears ahead of their 2025 avatars. And the Beijing robot half-marathon was perhaps the most spectacular of all — with the human record being shattered even more comprehensively than the 100 m. If this is the improvement in one year, then give me my tickets to the 2027 event already!

And yet, somewhat surprisingly, focus on the improvements and achievements has been sorely lacking in the west-centric media. The World Humanoid Robot Games have gone viral because their visuals are eyepopping, but the narrative thrust has been on all the surround sound — the crashes, the quirks, the cuteness (which is ample in several robot varieties). 

It is beguiling that for some, a sprinting robot crashing into a cushioned wall would be more dazzling than the human-record just broken by the robot. What they should instead highlight to their audiences is that the teams behind those robots are able to piece together and repair often totally shattered robots into running shape for the next round!

Yet, the media narratives and distractions have a limited life-span. You can be sure that by next year those robots will not be crashing into the wall — they'll stop on their own accord, along with much more. Each year and with each achievement of China's robots, you can feel the laughter from outside is turning more forced. What may once have been ridicule is turning increasingly into appreciation. Scorn is turning into an uncomfortable begrudging respect. And what was once dismissal is turning into wide-eyed wonder.