Dozens of human-like robots, without faces, accompanied by their human operators, invaded the Olympic skating rink in Beijing on Sunday, to participate in competitions ranging from athletics and boxing, through to football and martial arts.
During the opening ceremony of the tournament on Saturday, a Chinese robot broke Bolt’s record in the 100-meter race, an achievement that made headlines in Chinese official media, at a time when Beijing seeks to assert its superiority in this field.
“Tiangong Ultra,” a red, headless humanoid robot, finished the sprint in 9.39 seconds, according to state television channel CCTV, surpassing Bolt’s best time of 9.58 seconds, which he set in 2009.
Robot manufacturers achieved a new victory on Sunday, after the humanoid robot “Tiangong Ultra” broke the world record in the 400 m race by nearly five seconds.
The robot was developed at a research center in Beijing, and finished the race in 38.15 seconds.
