Recently, an unusual race took place in Beijing: Honor's Lightning robot completed a half marathon in 50:26, almost 7 minutes faster than the human world record.
Does this mean technology is starting to push humans out of sports? And should we talk about the 'end' of human records?
Sports expert Evgeny Azaryev believes that what is happening requires a more accurate interpretation.
'It is important to understand: this is not a competition between man and machine, but the emergence of a new category – technological sports. These systems have different limitations and different capabilities,' the expert notes.
According to him, the key is not the result itself, but the speed of technological progress. If in 2025 robots covered this distance in 2 hours 40 minutes, in a year the figure improved more than threefold.
'This means that technologies are moving from the experimental stage to the phase of scalable solutions. We are seeing not a one-time breakthrough, but the formation of a new industry,' Azaryev explains.
He separately draws attention to the nature of the robots' advantage.
'The human body is limited by endurance, overheating, and physiology. Robots do not have these limitations, because thanks to cooling systems and stable mechanics, they can maintain a pace unattainable for humans,' the expert says.
At the same time, the scale of what is happening is also important. More than 100 robots took part in the race, of which about 40% operated fully autonomously.
'A year ago, these were single prototypes. Today, it is already a mass technological solution. This is a fundamentally different level of development,' Azaryev emphasizes.
In his opinion, what is happening also reflects a change in the global technological balance.
'Chinese companies are betting not on demonstration projects, but on systematic engineering development. This allows them to scale solutions faster and form a new direction at the intersection of sports and technology,' he concludes.
