In a landmark decision that reshapes the global landscape of track and field, Kenya has beaten competing bids from London and Rome to win the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, marking the first time the prestigious senior tournament will be held on the African continent. The 2031 edition of the championships was awarded to Munich, Germany, after London and Rome withdrew from the running for the 2029 event.
Nairobi, Kenya’s bustling capital, will welcome the world’s top athletes to the upgraded Kasarani Stadium, a venue with a current seating capacity of 48,000 that is undergoing extensive renovations ahead of the tournament. Kenya’s unrivaled legacy in distance running and deep connection to athletics were the cornerstones of its successful bid. The East African nation has accumulated 72 World Championship gold medals and 38 Olympic gold medals, most in middle- and long-distance events, making it the second most successful country in the history of the World Athletics Championships. Standout Kenyan athletes including Eliud Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic marathon champion and 2003 World Championships 5000m gold medalist, personally championed Nairobi’s bid during the selection process.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, the former Olympic middle-distance champion, praised Kenya’s proposal as exceptionally powerful and moving. “Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country,” Coe said in his remarks following the announcement. “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.”
The hosting award represents a long-overdue milestone for African athletics, a continent that has produced some of the sport’s biggest global icons for decades but had never before been selected to host the senior World Athletics Championships. Kenya highlighted its proven track record of organizing elite international athletics events to strengthen its bid, including the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, the 2017 World Under-18 Championships and the 2021 World U20 Championships, both held in Nairobi.
This successful bid comes after Kenya’s unsuccessful attempt to host the 2025 World Championships, where infrastructure limitations were cited as a key factor in its loss to Tokyo. This time around, Kenyan organizers emphasized major upgrades to existing sports facilities to prove the country is ready to welcome the world. Currently, Kenya is in the process of renovating its key stadiums in preparation for co-hosting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, alongside neighboring Tanzania and Uganda. Kasarani Stadium, the venue for the 2029 World Athletics Championships, is undergoing a full structural renovation ahead of its role hosting matches in African football’s top continental tournament, works that will leave it fully prepared for the global athletics event in three years’ time.