World's First Humanoid Robot Half Marathon: TianGong Ultra Dominates Beijing Yizhuang

On April 19, 2025, the world's first humanoid robot half marathon was held in Beijing Yizhuang, featuring over 100 teams competing in the 21-kilometer race. The event showcased the rapid advancement of embodied AI technology in China. TianGong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, completed the race in 1 hour 15 minutes using its fully autonomous navigation system - the only robot in the event to do so without human intervention. Glory's 'Lightning' robot achieved an even more impressive time of 50 minutes 26 seconds, outperforming the fastest human half marathon world record holder by nearly 7 minutes. This remarkable achievement demonstrates how smartphone and EV technologies are being successfully transferred to robotics. According to IDC and Omdia data, Chinese manufacturers captured 86.9% of the global humanoid robot market in 2025, with Zhiyuan, Unitree, and UBTECH leading the rankings.