Moment weightlifting robot collapses onto judges' table during Olympics... before being rushed onto a stretcher

This is the hilarious moment a weightlifting robot collapsed onto a judges' table at China's cyborg Olympics - before being rushed away on a stretcher.The black and white robot appeared at the World Humanoid Robot Games (WHRG) in Beijing on Monday; however, did not manage to take home gold. The bot - among many machines competing at the event's various disciplines - was captured attempting to lift a weight before staggering and ultimately falling head first onto the judges' table. The fall took place during the weightlifting final at the second edition of the competition, which is hosted at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval. Footage of the event showed the humanoid robot - who was initially poised - quiver as it attempted to grip and lift a weight with both hands over its head.As the bot brought the weight above its head, it began to shake and ultimately drop the weight to the floor.It then began malfunctioning, before stumbling toward a table of judges and ultimately collapsing. In the moments following the fall, a group of staff clad in red vests can be seen quickly attending to the robot and piling it onto a stretcher where it is carefully escorted from the event's main floor. The bot pictured before it took a tumble. It is among hundreds of droids to participate in the second edition of the Chinese competition The bot was initially poised as it gripped the weight with both hands Footage of the event showed the humanoid robot quiver as it attempted to grip and lift a weight with both hands over its head However, as the bot brought the weight above its head, it began to shake and ultimately drop the weight to the floor. It then stumbled forward and landed on the judges' table In the moments following the fall, a group of staff clad in red vests can be seen quickly attending to the robot The robot was carefully escorted from the event's main floor on a stretcher The fall was only one of a series of dramatic events at the competition - with one robot breaking Usain Bolt's 100m world recordOfficials then immediately halted the competition and declared the attempt over. Yet this was only a first of a series of dramas at the competition, which also featured events such as boxing, the high-jump, Thai Chi and table tennis. The competition - which began on Sunday and will run for five days - saw a robot surpass legend Usain Bolt's 100m sprint world record. The bot ran 100m in 9.39 seconds - beating the human world record set by the Jamaican sprinting great who ran it in 9.58 seconds. Elsewhere at the competition, another robot performed Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'Siuuu' celebration on the football pitch, while a group of droids participated in a synchronised march at its opening ceremony. It is estimated more than 2,000 robots gathered for the event at its opening day.And although 96 per cent of the teams entering the games are Chinese, 16 countries from six continents will take part in the 1,301 matches.The games include competitions modelled on human sports as well as task-based events some of which require fully autonomous robots. Humanoid robots pictured before the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games opening ceremony Three humanoid robots running in the the 100m race during the events opening ceremony robots perform during the opening ceremony of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing A humanoid robot falls next to another humanoid robot that caught fire after completing a 100m prelim raceWorld Humanoid Robot Games officials will award independent robots full points but semi-autonomous bots will only receive half points. Out of the 50 events scheduled, 30 are sports competitions while the remaining 20 are work scenario tasks.Sports-based events include weightlifting, gymnastics, football and even a tug of war. There are also 11 Olympic-style track and field events.The 20 work-based tasks involve dextrous hand challenges such as bricklaying, power tool assembling and package handling.It is understood that the work competitions act as an opportunity to show where humanoid robots will first be commercially used.However, no events in the 2026 edition of the games will include stairs, ladders, uneven terrain or human-robot collaborations.The games come at an exciting time as robots have recently broken human records at events in China.Chinese scientists recently developed another droid they claim can outrun Mr Bolt. The prototype, nicknamed 'Superman', reached speeds of 12.66m per second (28.3mph) as it raced along a track Mr Bolt reached a speed of 12.42m per second (27.78mph) when he set the world record at the World Athletics Championship in 2009 The machine also appeared to jump an impressive two metres vertically into the air from standingThe prototype, nicknamed 'Superman', reached speeds of 12.66m per second (28.3mph) as it raced along a track. In comparison, Mr Bolt reached a speed of 12.42m per second (27.78mph) when he set the world record at the World Athletics Championship in 2009.The robot has been designed by Unitree, a Hangzhou-based Chinese robotics company best known for developing high-performance robot dogs and humanoid robots.It is not just smashing sprinting records, the robot also jumped an impressive two metres vertically into the air from standing.This beats the current human world record, set by US's Christopher Spell in 2021, of 1.7m (5ft 7in) from a standing jump.However, despite the impressive achievement, other robots are still some way off sporting perfection.Another robot taking part in a humanoid half-marathon event tripped and smashed into pieces before it was carried off on a stretcher by medics.The robot fell head first over the starting line during a training session for Beijing's humanoid half-marathon on April 19.All that was left of the robot were its legs, flailing helplessly and left twitching on the ground before five paramedics took the robotic remains away.The incident occurred during a rehearsal for the world's first humanoid half-marathon event only days before the official race.Rehearsals were held between April 11 and 12 in Beijing's E-Town Economic and Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, and was designed to simulate every aspect of the real event.More than 70 teams took part in the practice round, which trialled navigation, timing, equipment, co-ordination and emergency response.After it tripped, the machine smashed to smithereens, with pieces of its bodywork flying up into the air.In recent years, the advancements in automation technology in China - including robot development - has evolved into an area of international competition, causing national security concerns to arise. Beijing's latest five-year plan vows to 'target the frontiers of science and technology,' - which includes speeding up the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world's second-largest economy.A report by Omdia, a London-based technology research and advisory group, recently ranked three Chinese companies - AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp - as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.Each company shipped more than 1,000 units of the robot last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, according to the report.