NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has been awarded the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, making Nairobi the first African city ever to stage track and field’s premier global event.
World Athletics confirmed the decision on Tuesday following a council meeting in Budapest, where Nairobi’s bid beat competing proposals from London, Rome and Munich.
Munich was separately awarded hosting rights for the 2031 championships. The 2027 edition has already been allocated to Beijing, meaning the world championships will move through Asia, Africa and Europe in successive editions.
Nairobi’s bid centred on the 48,000-capacity Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, which is currently undergoing a complete structural overhaul as part of preparations to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Tanzania and Uganda.
Kenya’s bid pointed to that renovation, along with parallel upgrades to other national venues, as evidence the country now has the infrastructure to match its sporting pedigree.
The bid also drew on Kenya’s extensive experience hosting international athletics events, including the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, the 2010 African Athletics Championships, the 2017 World Under-18 Championships and the 2021 World Under-20 Championships, both held in Nairobi.
The city has also staged the Kip Keino Classic, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, since 2020.
This marks Kenya’s second bid for the World Athletics Championships, having previously lost out to Tokyo in the race to host the 2025 edition, a defeat in which weaker infrastructure was seen as a decisive factor.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said Nairobi returned this time with a considerably stronger proposition, pointing to the years of experience the city had gained since its first bid and the tangible progress made on stadium upgrades.
“Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment,” Coe said, describing Kenya’s bid as “compelling and emotional” and calling it one of the great athletics nations.
“The sport is woven into the fabric of the country,” he added, saying it was important for the championships to come to Africa once the right host, bid and circumstances aligned.
Coe said the council had faced a difficult choice among four strong bids for the 2029 and 2031 editions.
“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council,” he said, adding that the decision meant the championships would be staged across Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.
Kenya’s case leaned heavily on its standing as one of athletics’ most successful nations. It ranks as the second-most successful country in World Championships history and finished second on the medal table at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, winning seven gold medals and 11 medals overall.
Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, who also won 5000m gold at the 2003 World Championships, was among the athletes who helped make the case for Nairobi during the bidding process, alongside a roster of Kenyan greats including Faith Kipyegon, Hellen Obiri, David Rudisha, Vivian Cheruiyot and Kip Keino.
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World Athletics research cited as part of the bid found that 68 percent of Kenyans surveyed reported a high interest in athletics, compared with a global average of 39 percent, with the sport ranking as the country’s second most followed after football.
Africa has produced many of athletics’ biggest stars but had never previously hosted the senior World Championships.
Kenya’s successful bid changes that, and is being framed domestically as a landmark moment not just for the sport but for the country’s standing as a host of major global events, alongside its parallel preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and the development of the new Raila Odinga International Stadium, a 60,000-seat venue also being built to modern international standards.
With the championships still four years away, attention will now turn to Kenya’s ability to deliver on the infrastructure and organisational commitments made during the bidding process, following the shortfalls that counted against its 2025 bid.
