Kenya to host 2029 World Athletics Championships in African first

Kenya will become the first African nation to stage the World Athletics Championships after securing the bid for the 2029 edition.

Nairobi, the capital, will host the competition at the 48,000-capacity Kasarani Stadium.

London and Rome were unsuccessful in their bids, while Munich was chosen to host in 2031.

Kenya’s strong athletics tradition was a major part of its 2029 bid, with the East African country holding 72 World Championship and 38 Olympic gold medals, largely in middle- and long-distance events.

It ranks as the second-most successful country in World Championships history, and two-time Olympic marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge, who also claimed 5000m gold at the 2003 World Championships, was among those who argued Nairobi’s case during the bidding process.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe called the bid "compelling and emotional".

"Kenya is one of the great athletics nations," Coe added.

"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."

Awarding the event to Nairobi is a historic moment for Africa, which has never before hosted the senior World Championships despite producing many of the sport’s biggest stars.

Kenya’s bid also emphasized its record of hosting major athletics competitions, including the 2017 World Under-18 and 2021 World U20 Championships in Nairobi and the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa.

Kenya had previously bid for the 2025 World Championships but lost to Tokyo, with infrastructure identified as a major weakness.

This time, the country pointed to improvements to existing facilities as proof of its preparedness.

Kenya has been upgrading its stadiums ahead of co-hosting next year’s Africa Cup of Nations with Tanzania and Uganda.

Kasarani Stadium is currently being fully structurally overhauled ahead of matches at the continent’s biggest football tournament.