BEIJING — A Chinese android named “Lightning,” developed by Honor, shattered the human half-marathon world record at the 2026 Beijing E-Town event on April 19, finishing in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. The performance beats the current human record of 57:20, set by Jacob Kiplimo, by nearly seven minutes. Lightning ran the 21.1-kilometer distance at an average pace of roughly 2 minutes and 23 seconds per kilometer.
In a landmark technological feat, a Chinese humanoid robot named "Lightning" completed a half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, officially outpacing the current human world recordpic.twitter.com/R5RYaCbwhu
— Rifnote (@viarifnote) April 19, 2026