WATCH the surreal moment that a ROBOT collapsed at the start of a half marathon race against HUMANS.
The historic first ever competitivebetween man and bot saw 21 humanoid robots race alongside 12,000 runners around the , China, on Saturday.
The robots had to resemble humans and be able to walk or run – wheels were not allowed.
The AI bots were , with some physically supporting the machines during the race.
Some robots completed the race, while others struggled from the beginning.
One droid fell at the starting line and appeared to rest on the ground for a few minutes before eventually getting up and joining the race.
Another dramatically crashed into a railing after running a short distance – throwing its human operator on the floor in the process.
The winning was Tiangong Ultra, which crossed the finishing line with a time of two hours and 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, the men's winner had a time of one hour and two minutes.
Tang Jian, chief technology officer for the creator of the robot, the Innovation Centre of Human Robotics, said its performance was aided by long legs and an algorithm allowing it to imitate how humans run a marathon.
He said: “I don't want to boast, but I think no other robotics firms in the West have matched Tiangong's sporting achievements.
The winning robot's battery was changed just three times during the race.
All of the runners had been specifically trained to compete in the half with some even wearing running trainers and donning gloves.
The athletic came from various Chinese manufacturers, such as DroidVP and Noetix Robotics.
And they appeared to come in all shapes and sizes – with some of thebeing as tall as 1.8 metres, and others resembling adolescent bots at just 1.2 metres tall.
One of the manufacturers boasted that its invention resembled a feminine runner which could even wink at onlookers.
