Humanoid robot technology continues to impress in China.

A humanoid robot built by Chinese smartphone maker Honor clocked 9.47 seconds over 100m at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing – faster than Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58. They called it Lightning. They could have called it Usain Bot

Usain Bolt's 100m world record of 9.58 seconds, set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, has stood for 17 years. On Saturday, in a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, it was beaten – not by a sprinter, but by a robot.

Lightning, developed by smartphone manufacturer Honor, covered the distance in 9.47 seconds. It was not even the fastest machine on the day: Tiangong Ultra, built by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, won the heat outright in 9.39 seconds after overtaking Lightning near the finish, having trailed for most of the race.

However, Lightning is reputed to have clocked 9.32 in a test run.

Neither robot managed Bolt's showmanship. Both slammed into a thick mat positioned beyond the finish line to bring them to a stop, with Tiangong stumbling wildly into the sidelines and sending spectators scattering out of its path.

Lightning stands 1.69m tall. Its legs, which measured 95cm during an earlier half-marathon appearance in April, were lengthened by 10cm to 1.05m ahead of the games – part of the modifications behind the improved time. It marks a considerable leap from last year's inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, where Tiangong Ultra won the 100m in a considerably more human-sympathetic 21.50 seconds.

The 100m was one of 51 events at this year's games, which run from August 22-26 and also include football, dancing and industrial-task contests such as tightening screws. More than 2,000 robots from over 600 teams are taking part, with China continuing to position humanoid robotics as a strategic industry backed by significant state and private investment.

Whether Lightning's time will trouble the record books in any meaningful athletics sense is another matter – World Athletics has, unsurprisingly, shown no signs of asking Honor for a doping sample. But as a marketing exercise, the name barely needed the assist: with a 100m clocking quicker than the fastest man in history, Lightning might just as well have been called Usain Bot.