BEIJING — The world’s first-ever humanoid robot games began today in Beijing, with over 500 androids alternating between jerky tumbles and glimpses of real power as they compete in events from the 100-metre hurdles to kung fu.

Hundreds of robotics teams from 16 countries are going for gold at the Chinese capital’s National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The games include traditional sports like athletics and basketball, as well as practical tasks such as medicine categorisation and cleaning.

“I believe in the next 10 years or so, robots will be basically at the same level as humans,” enthusiastic 18-year-old spectator Chen Ruiyuan told AFP.

Human athletes might not be quaking in their boots just yet. At one of the first events this morning, five-aside football, 10 robots the size of seven-year-olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse.

However, in a 1500-metre race, domestic champion Unitree’s humanoids stomped along the track at an impressive clip, easily outpacing their rivals.

The fastest robot AFP witnessed finished in 6:29:37, a far cry from the human men’s world record of 3:26:00.

One mechanical racer barrelled straight into a human operator. The robot remained standing, while the human was knocked flat, though did not appear to be injured.