"It recorded 9.39 seconds." On the 22nd, at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval in China, where the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games opened.

As the preliminary results of the humanoid robot 100-meter race were displayed on the large electronic scoreboard, a crowd of about 10,000 spectators cheered.

A humanoid robot from Team Tianzhuo crossed the finish line in 9.39 seconds that day, beating Usain Bolt's 100-meter world record of 9.58 seconds by 0.19 seconds.

This result cut the top 100-meter record from the inaugural competition last year (21.50 seconds) down to less than half in just one year.

Local Chinese media outlet The Paper introduced that this robot is the Tiangong Ultra developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center.

The track preliminary events, arranged as a major feature of the day, closely resembled actual human competitions as multiple humanoid robots raced side-by-side upon the starting signal.

Spectators in the stands watched the results with bated breath, and gasps erupted from various places as the robots crossed the finish line one after another in the blink of an eye.

According to the organizers, even faster records (9.32 seconds, 9.34 seconds, and 9.38 seconds) appeared in pre-event preliminaries held at the venue ahead of the official opening.

A new record of 2.8843 meters was also set in the standing high jump demonstration event held as a special attraction on the same day.

Although the competition format differs, this also vastly surpasses Cuba's Javier Sotomayor's human running-start high jump world record of 2.45 meters set in 1993 and last year's tournament winning record of 95.641 centimeters.

Local media reported that this robot is also the Tiangong Ultra and that it easily broke the world record.

In the 7-on-7 soccer demonstration match held the same day, robots navigated the pitch using fully autonomous methods to recognize their surroundings and ball positions without human remote control.

In this match, where the Acceleration Team and the Evolution Team clashed for about 15 minutes, the first goal was scored within 1 minute, and the Acceleration Team won 3-1.

Laughter burst from the stands when a physical tussle broke out between humanoid robots accompanied by a clanking sound and the referee flashed a yellow card.

Most of the robots got back up on their own in less than 3 seconds after falling, but some engaged in unexpected behaviors such as kicking at empty air or kicking and knocking over a nearby opposing team robot.

Some were unable to get up on their own and were dragged off by staff.

In addition, performances followed mimicking the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games, with hundreds of humanoid robot athletes entering in neat rows and columns around the stadium track, or a wire-suspended robot descending from the stadium ceiling.

A Chinese spectator at the venue shared, "I visited the site with my family last year as well, and it feels like this year's sights are much richer and the robots' capabilities have improved significantly," adding, "My child cannot take their eyes off the competition."

Running for five days through the 26th, this year's competition features 666 teams from 16 countries, with a total of 2,056 humanoid robots competing across 51 events in 1,301 matches.

The events have become much richer in scale and spectacles.

The number of participating robots has increased more than fourfold compared to last year's inaugural event, and the number of matches has grown by nearly 2.7 times.

On the 23rd, when full-scale competition begins, events including the track 400-meter large and small categories, 1,500-meter, and long jump will take place.

Following soccer, Tai Chi, free combat, and table tennis matches, demonstrations will also be showcased assessing robots' actual working capabilities, such as hand manipulation, food preparation and sales, emergency response, and electric vehicle charging.

On the 24th, finals for the 400-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles will be held, alongside free gymnastics, cheerleading, and weightlifting competitions.

Hand manipulation skills such as nail-fixing, package unpacking, cable connection, and bottle-cap opening, as well as industrial packaging and warehousing and comprehensive office service capabilities, will also be put to the test on this day.

On the 25th, the 400-meter relay, standing high jump, street dance, and tug-of-war finals are scheduled, and the five-day competition will conclude on the final day, the 26th, with standing long jump, Tuho (pitch-pot), martial arts competitions, soccer and track finals, followed by the closing ceremony.

(Photo: Yonhap News)