Robots just held their own (very chaotic) athletic games. And the footage is jaw-dropping | BBC Science Focus Magazine

@chinaliuyusen After dominating sprint races, TianGong 3.0 steps onto the weightlifting stage. Fully autonomous, it grips the barbell, lifts it overhead and holds steady for a valid attempt. Humanoid robots are not only fast runners. Power output and balance control are another tough test. Every successful lift is a solid breakthrough for embodied AI technology. #WorldHumanoidRobotGames #WorldRobotConference #TianGong3.0 #HumanoidRobot #RobotWeightlifting ♬ 原創音樂 - China LiuYusen

Track events like the 400 metres, 1,500m and 4x100m relay were reclassified this year as fully autonomous, meaning no human remote control or intervention of any kind was allowed. Additionally, organisers added a new contest testing dexterous robotic hands, featuring tasks like bottle-opening and bean-picking. > @techniahqrobot This humanoid robot is absolutely sending it around the track. Captured at the World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, the robot is running through the curve at speed while constantly correcting its balance and foot placement. The corner is one of the hardest parts. Every step changes the robot’s momentum, body angle and contact with the ground. One bad landing can immediately turn into a fall. You can actually see the control system fighting to keep the body moving forward while the legs repeatedly recover underneath it. Humanoid robot racing is becoming one of the clearest ways to see progress in locomotion, balance and real-time motion control. And these machines are getting faster. #HumanoidRobots #Robotics #PhysicalAI #WorldHumanoidRobotGames #Beijing ♬ original > @techniahqrobot Humanoid robot football is starting to look much more physical. At the World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, multiple robots converge on the ball inside the penalty area. The result is messy, crowded and surprisingly similar to a real football scramble. Several robots lose balance. One goes down. Others keep trying to reposition around the ball while avoiding teammates and opponents in the same small space. This is where autonomous robot football gets difficult. The robot has to track a moving ball, localize itself on the field, recognize other players, decide where to move and keep its balance while nearby machines are constantly changing position. A clean one-on-one demo is much easier. Put several humanoids around the same ball and perception, coordination and