By Gran Chico
September 15, 2026
Nairobi has secured the 2029 World Athletics Championships, making history as the first African city to host the senior edition of athletics’ flagship global event.
The landmark decision was announced on Tuesday, September 15, following a World Athletics Council meeting in Budapest, with Nairobi beating bids from London, Rome and Munich. Munich was awarded the 2031 championships, while Beijing is already set to host the 2027 edition.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe described the bidding process as one of the strongest in the history of the championships and praised Nairobi’s proposal for combining Kenya’s deep athletics heritage with an ambitious hosting plan.
“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council. With this 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,” Coe said.
He added that bringing the championships to the continent represented a major milestone for the sport.
“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic. Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country. It was important that the World 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,” Coe said.
The award is particularly significant for Kenya, a country synonymous with middle- and long-distance running and one of the most successful nations in the history of the World Championships.
Kenya has produced generations of global athletics stars, with legendary figures such as two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge also playing a role in supporting Nairobi’s bid.
The capital already has experience hosting major international athletics events. Nairobi staged the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021, while Kenya hosted the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa in 2007.
Nairobi had also previously attempted to secure the senior championships, submitting an unsuccessful bid for the 2025 edition, which was eventually awarded to Tokyo.
The 2029 championships are expected to be staged at the renovated Kasarani Stadium, officially known as the Moi International Sports Centre. The venue is undergoing major upgrades ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, providing Kenya with an opportunity to showcase modern sporting infrastructure on the biggest athletics stage.
World Athletics’ bidding requirements state that the main stadium for the championships must have a minimum capacity of 30,000 spectators and hold a Class 1 Athletics Facility Certificate, alongside appropriate warm-up and competition facilities.
Nairobi’s successful bid was built around its athletics heritage, operational experience, financial guarantees, upgraded facilities and a long-term legacy plan.
London and Rome were left disappointed after missing out, while Munich secured the 2031 edition and will stage the championships at its Olympic Stadium.
For Africa, however, the Nairobi award represents a breakthrough decades in the making. Despite producing some of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport, the continent had never hosted the senior World Athletics Championships.
The 2029 event is therefore expected to go beyond competition, providing Kenya with an opportunity to showcase its athletics culture, infrastructure, tourism and wider sporting ambitions to a global audience.
With Beijing set to host the 2027 championships, attention will now turn to Nairobi as preparations begin for the historic September 2029 edition, when Africa will finally take its place as host of the world’s premier senior athletics championships.
