Usain Bolt, Meet Lightning Bolt

A robot named Lightning recently completed a 100-meter dash in an astonishing 9.32 seconds, breaking the world record previously held by human sprinter Usain Bolt. This remarkable performance took place during a test run at the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which started Saturday in Beijing, China.

Created by the Chinese smartphone company Honor, Lightning dashed down the track at a remarkable speed of 14.5 meters per second, or about 32 mph, as showcased in a viral video.

This achievement surpassed Bolt’s previous record of 9.58 seconds set during his famous 100-meter sprint in Berlin, Germany, back in 2009. At that time, the Jamaican sprinting icon reached a peak speed of over 27 mph—the fastest ever recorded for a human until now.

Interestingly, this was not the first time Lightning triumphed in the competition between man and machine. Earlier this year, in April, Lightning completed a half-marathon in Beijing in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds, shattering the human record of 57 minutes held by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo.

It seems Lightning can indeed strike twice in the same spot! At that time, the robot stood about 5 feet 5 inches tall with legs measuring 3 feet. Researchers had since lengthened its legs by approximately four inches, which may have contributed to its impressive performance this time around.

If Lightning continues to break human records, it might just redefine the term “race” entirely. As for now, human records are likely to face further challenges during the ongoing robotic games, where 2,056 automated athletes from 666 teams across 16 countries are competing in various events.

In addition to traditional Olympic disciplines like track and field and archery, these robots are also tested on their ability to perform real-world tasks, such as tightening screws and picking up bottles.