The three-day 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games concluded on the 17th at the National Speed Skating Oval, known as the "Ice Ribbon". This Beijing Winter Olympics venue, which has set one world record and ten Olympic records, witnessed another historic moment. Four months ago, the "Human Machine Co Run" half marathon in Yizhuang, Beijing brought robots into the public eye. Now, the world's first humanoid robot sports event has opened people's eyes with its more diverse project settings. After the competition, the most frequently said phrase by each participating team in an interview was' compare yourself '. The first gold medal of this competition came from the 1500 meter event, and Yushu Beijing Lingyi Technology ultimately won the gold medal with a time of 6 minutes 34.40 seconds. Netizens joked that it was similar to their own physical test results, and perhaps the robot was even faster. However, before the competition, many teams were unsure whether the contestants could run 1500 meters without changing their batteries, as the laboratory's single test distance was limited by the venue and generally did not exceed 500 meters. The optimization and adaptation of hardware and algorithms are particularly crucial for making robots run, taking into account factors such as cornering, step frequency, and stability. The process of team preparation is a brave attempt at technological breakthroughs. The robot athletes on the field, some with their heads held high and some with steady steps, carry the efforts and hard work of the research team behind every movement, and the process is far more important than the result. Whether on the field or in the laboratory, imperfections are inevitable. For example, in the 1500 meter race, Yushu Technology's robot deviated from the track and knocked down the human operators of other teams running after it. The reason for this "rear end collision" was that the two operators did not observe the "road conditions ahead" in advance when handing over the remote control, and failed to issue timely avoidance instructions. Wang Xingxing, founder of Yushu Technology, stated that current humanoid robots can achieve fully autonomous operation. The reason for choosing remote control in this competition is to pursue the ultimate speed, but it did not take into account the physical exhaustion of human operators following in medium and long-distance projects. The next competition will be prepared in fully autonomous mode. The football match of this sports meet relies on the "autonomous decision-making" of robots on the field. They capture the dynamics on the field in real time through head cameras, complete actions such as dribbling, passing, shooting, etc., involving acceleration, deceleration, and turning, comprehensively testing the performance and system algorithm of robots. Football matches have attracted teams from countries and regions such as Germany, Portugal, and Indonesia, providing a platform for exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign players. Liu Bo from the Puwa Intelligent Team said, "From proficiently coding and debugging equipment before the game to temporarily adjusting strategies on site, it is a great exercise for the entire team. After returning home, we can settle down." In the football match of this sports meeting, many foreign participating teams chose to use Chinese "accelerated evolution" robots and debug their algorithms and performance based on them. Lopez, a contestant from Portugal, said, "We have been in Beijing for almost a month now, and it has been a great competition experience. Through in-depth exchanges with teams from different countries and regions, we have learned a lot. Not having to bring robots from Portugal has also saved us a lot of expenses and trouble." In other projects, the flexibility of martial arts, dance, and floor exercise competition robots, material handling, welcome services, cleaning services, drug sorting, and other content are closely integrated with the practical application scenarios of humanoid robots in production and life, allowing the audience to fully experience the technological breakthroughs of humanoid robots in speed, strength, collaboration, and other dimensions. Wang Xingxing believes that "the development of robotics should be compared to its past. In the past one or two years, the technological progress of the entire industry has been very rapid, and the hosting of the Robot Sports Games has promoted the development of the industry." At the closing ceremony held on the 17th, the World Federation of Humanoid Robotics was announced, aiming to promote deep cooperation in the global robotics and artificial intelligence fields. The organizing committee of the event announced that the second World Humanoid Robot Games will continue to be held in Beijing in August 2026. Competition competitions help scientific research teams quantify the progress of robot development, while humanoid robots are also using technology to interpret the spirit of human sports that transcends oneself. (New Society)