World Athletics Championship lands in Africa, as Nairobi hosts the first World event in 2029.
By Uzor Odigbo
Nairobi has been selected to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships following one of the strongest bidding processes in the history of the sport’s flagship event.
The decision, made during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting in Budapest on Monday and Tuesday (14-15), means that the World Athletics Championships will be held in Africa for the first time when the Kenyan capital stages the 2029 edition, before returning to Germany for a third time two years later, this time in Munich’s iconic Olympic Stadium.
“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underlines the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships.
“With this Council decision today, we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.
“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships.”
Nairobi’s selection represents a landmark moment for athletics, bringing its biggest global event to Africa for the first time.
The championships will build on a growing record of successful World Athletics events staged across Africa. Kampala in Uganda hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, Nairobi staged the World U18 Championships later that year and the World U20 Championships in 2021, while Gaborone in Botswana hosted the World Athletics Relays in 2026 – the first edition of that event to be held in Africa. Together, those events have helped build significant experience and expertise in staging global athletics competitions across the continent.
Within that wider progression, Nairobi has established particularly strong credentials as a host city.
Having previously bid to host the 2025 championships, awarded to Tokyo, Nairobi returned with an even stronger proposition for 2029, drawing on almost a decade of experience in staging major international athletics events.
The 2017 World U18 Championships demonstrated the extraordinary appetite for athletics in Kenya, with huge crowds packing the Kasarani Stadium throughout the competition. Nairobi has since established the Kip Keino Classic as one of Africa’s leading one-day meetings, with the event forming part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold since the tour was launched in 2020.
That experience provided firm foundations for a 2029 bid that combined strong operational planning and financial guarantees with a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing a complete structural overhaul of all facilities ahead of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 two years before the World Athletics Championships, and a compelling vision for the first World Athletics Championships in Africa.
The strength of Kenya’s connection with athletics is also reflected in World Athletics fan research.
Some 68% of Kenyan people surveyed rated their interest in athletics as high, compared with a global average of 39%, making Kenya the most athletics-interested market surveyed. Kenya has the highest net promoter score of any market, and athletics is the country’s second-most-followed sport, behind only football. Kenya is the fourth-highest country in terms of followers of World Athletics social media channels.
That passion is matched by sustained success at the highest level. Kenya is the second-most-successful nation in World Athletics Championships history and finished second on the medal table at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, winning seven gold medals and 11 medals in total.
“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” said Coe.
“Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country, and athletes such as world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri and David Rudisha, as well as two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino, multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat and multiple world half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe, have shaped the history of our sport.
“It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment.”
