Nairobi To Host World Athletics Championships 2029 In Historic First For Africa

Nairobi has been chosen to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, marking the first time the event will be staged in Africa. The Kenyan capital will bring the sport's premier meet to a country that is already one of the world's leading athletics nations.

Kenya trails only the United States in all-time medals. Dominance in distance running events has long powered that success on the global stage.

Coe And Kenya

Sebastian Coe announced the decision after the Ultimate Championship in Hungary. He called it a historic moment for the sport. "Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic," Coe said. "Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya."

Kenyan sports minister Salim Mvurya praised the move. He said the global competition will spotlight a nation where distance running forms a core part of national identity. Studies by World Athletics showed Kenyan audiences displayed the highest passion for track and field among all surveyed regions, Coe added.

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Bid And Venue

Nairobi beat bids from London and Rome to secure the 2029 championships. London last hosted the event in 2017.

Stadium readiness strengthened the capital's pitch. Organisers plan to run the competition at a venue undergoing renovations for Kenya's joint hosting duties during next year's Africa Cup of Nations.

Coe said the timing mattered as much as the bid itself. "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," Coe said. "Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment."

Doping Scrutiny Ahead

The choice is likely to draw closer scrutiny of Kenya's doping record. Several elite Kenyan athletes have been suspended over the past decade.

Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng'etich is currently serving a three-year ban.

Future Championships Schedule

The championships will keep their traditional format. Next year's World Athletics Championships in Beijing will run for 10 days and include a full programme of events.

The Budapest event followed a different model. Lasting three days, the Ultimate Championship relied on invitation-only entries and lucrative cash rewards rather than traditional medal pursuits. Organisers also dropped several disciplines, omitting the marathon, race walks, shot put and men's triple jump.

Organisers have not settled on a venue for the 2028 Ultimate Championship. Strong interest emerged following the debut edition, Coe added. "I think the proof of concept worked pretty well. There are things that we will obviously look at and adjust," Coe said.

The broader calendar is now clear. Beijing will host the next World Athletics Championships before Nairobi in 2029. Munich will follow in 2031, when Germany stages the meet again and the Bavarian city does so for the first time.