Kenya will make history as the first African country to host the World Athletics Championships after Nairobi was awarded the 2029 edition of the global competition.
The Kenyan capital will stage the championships at the 48,000-capacity Kasarani Stadium, following a successful bid that saw it beat London and Rome. Munich was selected to host the 2031 edition.
Kenya’s strong record in athletics was a major factor in its bid, with the East African country having won 72 World Championship gold medals and 38 Olympic gold medals, largely through its success in middle- and long-distance events.
Two-time Olympic marathon champion, Eliud Kipchoge, who also won 5,000m gold at the 2003 World Championships, was among those who supported Nairobi’s bid.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe described the proposal as “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.”
The award marks a significant milestone for Africa, which has never hosted the senior World Athletics Championships despite producing some of the sport’s most celebrated athletes.
Kenya also pointed to its experience of staging major international athletics competitions, including the 2017 World Under-18 and 2021 World U20 Championships in Nairobi, as well as the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa.
The country had previously bid to host the 2025 World Championships but lost the rights to Tokyo, with infrastructure identified as one of the weaknesses of its earlier proposal.
For the 2029 bid, Kenya highlighted upgrades to its existing sporting facilities as evidence of its preparedness. Kasarani Stadium is currently undergoing a major structural overhaul ahead of its expected use during the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Kenya will co-host with Tanzania and Uganda.
