March 30, 2026 – At the 2026 China Online Media Forum, Wang Xingxing, the founder of Unitree Technology, made a bold announcement. He revealed that during the upcoming humanoid robot half – marathon event set to take place in Beijing’s Yizhuang on April 19, several humanoid robots are expected to finish the half – marathon in under an hour, outpacing human runners.
Wang Xingxing pointed out that Unitree Technology’s humanoid robots have already demonstrated remarkable athletic capabilities. Back in August 2025, the company’s robots participated in the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games. They emerged as champions in multiple events, including the 1500 – meter, 400 – meter, 4×100 – meter relay, and 100 – meter obstacle races. Notably, their 1500 – meter time was within the 6 – minute range.
The Beijing Yizhuang half – marathon is a groundbreaking event on a global scale, marking the first large – scale race where humans and robots run side by side. Over 300 humanoid robots will compete alongside 12,000 human runners. The event is divided into two groups: the autonomous navigation group and the remote – control group, and a hybrid timing system will be used to determine the finish times.
According to Wang Xingxing, the participating robots will rely on autonomous navigation to complete the race. They are set to make significant breakthroughs in core capabilities such as environmental perception, dynamic obstacle avoidance, and long – distance stable running, enabling them to achieve the goal of finishing the half – marathon in under an hour.
Regarding the future prospects of the industry, Wang Xingxing stated that although robots and embodied artificial intelligence have not yet reached a critical development point, the speed of technological iteration is truly impressive. He emphasized that what is most exciting is not the current maturity of the products but the fact that significant technological breakthroughs and progress can be observed every year.
