In a landmark decision that rewrites the history of global track and field, Nairobi has been chosen as the host city for the 2029 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first African city ever to welcome the sport’s flagship event. Kenya’s capital defeated competing bids from European contenders London and Rome to claim the hosting rights, with Munich later selected to stage the 2031 edition of the championships.
Kenyan President William Ruto hailed the selection as a long-awaited milestone for a nation whose name has become inextricably linked with distance running excellence. “The World Athletics Championship is coming home,” Ruto said, describing the successful bid as a victory for generations of Kenyan athletes who have built the country’s unrivaled reputation on tracks and roads across the globe.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who announced the final decision in Budapest on Tuesday, called Kenya’s winning bid “compelling and emotional.” The East African nation stands as the second most successful country in the history of the World Championships, having collected 72 gold medals to date, trailing only the United States. The vast majority of these titles, alongside 38 Olympic gold medals, have come in middle- and long-distance events, cementing Kenya’s status as a global powerhouse in the sport.
Coe emphasized that athletics is woven into the cultural fabric of Kenya, and that the nation’s athletes have played an central role in shaping the history of the sport. He highlighted the contributions of several Kenyan running legends, including two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, who actively lobbied for the bid, legendary men’s 800m world record holder David Rudisha, and multi-time world and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, who recently helped secure a 1-2 Kenyan finish in the women’s 5000m at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships.
Beyond athletic pedigree, Kenya’s passionate domestic fanbase emerged as a key competitive advantage. World Athletics surveys found that 68% of Kenyans report high interest in athletics, far exceeding the global average of 39%. Athletics ranks as the second most popular sport in the country, only behind football, and Kenya places fourth globally in the number of followers of World Athletics social media channels.
This successful bid comes four years after Kenya fell short in its campaign for the 2025 championships, which were ultimately awarded to Tokyo. The 2025 bid failed primarily due to gaps in venue infrastructure, a shortcoming Kenya has addressed ahead of the 2029 selection process. The country’s main venue, the 48,000-capacity Kasarani Stadium, will complete a full structural overhaul well before the 2029 event kicks off. The stadium is already set to be used next year when Kenya co-hosts the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Tanzania and Uganda, giving organizers a chance to test major event operations ahead of the world championships.
Barnaba Korir, a core member of the bid team, acknowledged the lessons learned from the failed 2025 attempt. “We learned from the 2025 bid because there were areas that we did not score well,” Korir told the BBC World Service. “Because of that, we managed to improve on those areas. I’m happy that the infrastructure that we have already developed will also meet the standards that we have seen all over the world.”
Unlike past concerns over infrastructure, hospitality and accommodation are not expected to be major hurdles, as Nairobi is a frequent host for large international conferences. “Kenya is also known for its very dynamic hospitality, the tourism sector,” said Elijah Mwangi, principal secretary at Kenya’s State Department for Sports. “It has a game park within the city, so we are waiting to welcome everybody.”
President Ruto has formally committed to full government financial and security guarantees to deliver the championships. “We thank World Athletics for the confidence it has placed in Kenya,” Ruto said. “We will honour that confidence by delivering an unforgettable championship worthy of our athletes, our country and our continent.”
The selection aligns with Coe’s long-stated mission to expand athletics globally during his tenure as president, which began in 2015. Under his leadership, the World Championships have already travelled to new markets including Qatar (2019) and the United States (2022), with Tokyo hosting 2025 and Beijing set to host in 2027. Before Tuesday’s announcement, one senior bid official noted that bringing the championships to Africa, a continent that has produced some of the sport’s greatest legends, had become a priority for Coe ahead of the end of his third term next year.
“With this decision we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide,” Coe said. “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.” While Coe praised the quality, ambition and commitment of all four bidding cities, the opportunity to break new ground for the sport on the African continent ultimately tipped the scales in Kenya’s favour. Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, said the organization was “deeply disappointed” by London’s unsuccessful bid.
Despite the historic win, Kenya faces a series of logistical and organizational challenges over the next three years as it prepares to welcome the world. The upcoming 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will serve as a critical test event for operations at Kasarani Stadium, located roughly 30 minutes from Nairobi’s central business district. While the venue currently lacks a direct rail connection, Korir said World Athletics officials have already signed off on Kenya’s comprehensive transport plan.
Organizers have faced past questions about crowd management at Kasarani: during the 2024 African Nations Championship football tournament, overcrowding at several Kenyan matches forced temporary reductions in venue capacity. Delays to ongoing preparations for 2027 Afcon have also raised concerns among observers, and the full cost of the 2029 World Athletics Championships will be primarily covered by the Kenyan government, with an estimated $78 million in public funding already earmarked, alongside additional revenue from sponsorships.
Mwangi confirmed that the government is prepared to meet all financial commitments on schedule, and Korir added that the funding commitment is legally binding, meaning it will remain in place even after next year’s scheduled Kenyan presidential election, regardless of any change in administration. “Whatever the government assigns now will be observed by the next government. It is an international agreement,” Korir said.
Another key challenge will be developing a ticketing strategy that balances accessibility for local fans with the goal of filling the stadium for every session. During the 2017 Under-18 World Athletics Championships hosted in Nairobi, low attendances forced organizers to make entry free after initial low turnout despite low ticket prices. World Athletics generated $522 million in revenue from the 2025 Tokyo championships, where 619,000 tickets were sold over nine days, while the 2017 London championships sold a record 705,000 tickets. By choosing Nairobi over a proven host like London, World Athletics has prioritized global expansion over guaranteed high ticket sales, and attendances will be closely watched, particularly after the sparse crowds seen at the 2019 Doha championships. Korir, however, remains confident that if ticket sales launch early, Kasarani Stadium will sell out for every day of competition, including morning preliminary sessions.
In addition to organizational challenges, Kenya also faces ongoing pressure to address the issue of doping, after a series of high-profile scandals in recent years. The Athletics Integrity Unit has already issued 11 doping bans to Kenyan athletes in 2026 alone. All eyes will now be on Kenya over the next three years as it works to deliver on its promises, tackle outstanding challenges, and pull off a successful first World Athletics Championships on the African continent.
