Nairobi awarded the 2029 World Athletics Championships - first edition in history on the African continent
Nairobi will host the World Athletics Championships in 2029, bringing World Athletics' most important competition to the African continent for the first time in its history. The decision was made on 15 September 2026 by the World Athletics Council at its 242nd meeting in Budapest, while the international federation simultaneously confirmed that Munich will host the championships in 2031. According to World Athletics' announcement, the bidding process for those two editions was one of the strongest in the history of the competition, with Nairobi, London, Rome and Munich in contention. The Kenyan capital was therefore awarded the 2029 edition, while the German city was allocated the championships two years later.
For Nairobi, the decision has a broader significance than simply hosting another major sporting event. The World Athletics Championships have been held since 1983, but no previous edition has been organized in Africa, a continent that for decades has played a decisive role in the development of global running, particularly in middle- and long-distance events. World Athletics therefore describes the decision as a historic moment for the sport and as an important step in expanding its biggest competitions across different continents. The organization's president, Sebastian Coe, emphasized that all four candidates presented high-quality projects and that the Council's decision was not an easy one.
Kasarani will be the centre of the championships
The main venue of the 2029 World Championships will be the renovated Kasarani Stadium, part of the Moi International Sports Centre complex in Nairobi. World Athletics states that the stadium is undergoing an extensive structural renovation of its facilities and supporting infrastructure, with the works also linked to Kenya's preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. During 2026, CAF carried out inspections of sporting and logistical capacities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the host countries of that football tournament, and Kasarani was among the locations inspected in Nairobi. Such a sequence of major events allows the city to use part of its investment in stadiums, transport, security, accommodation capacity and operational systems across multiple international competitions.
Kasarani is not an unfamiliar location for world athletics. Nairobi organized the World Under-18 Championships there in 2017, which according to World Athletics attracted a very large number of spectators, and four years later the city hosted the World Under-20 Championships. In the meantime, the Kenyan capital has strengthened its position on the international athletics calendar through the Kip Keino Classic, a meeting that is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series. The combination of experience in organizing competitions, infrastructure investment, financial guarantees and a strong local fan base is cited as one of the main reasons for the success of the bid.
In explaining the decision, World Athletics also cited data from its own audience research, according to which 68 percent of respondents in Kenya rate their interest in athletics as high, compared with a global average of 39 percent. The organization also states that athletics is the second most-followed sport in the country, behind football. Such figures are important to the organizer because the World Championships are not only a sporting competition but also a major television, commercial and logistical event that depends on ticket sales, audience engagement and international visibility.
Kenya gets the championships after decades of success on the track and road
The selection of Nairobi is particularly symbolic because of the place Kenya occupies in the history of world athletics. For decades, the country has been among the most successful in middle- and long-distance events, and names such as Faith Kipyegon, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri, David Rudisha, Vivian Cheruiyot, Kip Keino, Paul Tergat and Tegla Loroupe have left a strong mark on Olympic and world competitions. World Athletics states that Kenya is the second most successful nation in the history of the World Championships and that at the 2025 championships in Tokyo it finished second in the medal table with seven gold medals and 11 medals in total. Hosting the event in 2029 therefore connects a long competitive tradition with an effort for the country to take on a larger role in organizing the world's biggest sporting events.
Nairobi had previously tried to secure the senior World Championships. The city was a candidate for the 2025 edition, which was ultimately awarded to Tokyo, and World Athletics states that the Kenyan side entered the new bid with additional experience and a stronger operational plan. The process for the 2029 and 2031 editions was officially launched in June 2025, while the deadline for final bid submissions was 31 August 2026. The Council's decision was made in September, in accordance with the bidding calendar published by the international federation before the final stage of the process.
The competition was strong. London already hosted the World Championships in 2017 at the 2012 Olympic Stadium, Rome has a long tradition of major athletics events, while Munich has the Olympic Stadium and experience from organizing the 2022 European Championships. According to a report by the specialist portal Inside the Games, Nairobi was ahead of London, Rome and Munich in the process for 2029, while Munich was awarded the 2031 edition. World Athletics did not publish detailed voting results or scores for the individual bids, so it is not known how Council members assessed each individual element in the final decision.
Championships in Africa are part of a broader geographical expansion
The decision on Nairobi fits into World Athletics' strategy of distributing its biggest championships across different major markets and athletics environments. The next World Championships will be held in Beijing from 10 to 19 September 2027, after which the competition will move to Africa for the first time in 2029 and return to Europe in 2031. World Athletics has announced that both the Nairobi and Munich championships will be held during September, while the exact dates for those editions have not yet been published. According to the federation, the goal is for the world's biggest competition to serve as the concluding highlight of the main part of the outdoor season.
Before Nairobi, Africa had hosted several other competitions within the World Athletics system, but never the senior stadium World Championships. Kampala in Uganda hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, Nairobi hosted the world under-18 event in the same year and the under-20 championships in 2021, while Gaborone in Botswana organized the World Athletics Relays in 2026, the first edition of that competition held in Africa. World Athletics cites those events as part of a process through which organizers on the continent gained the experience needed to take on the biggest event.
The issue of infrastructure remains crucial. Major world championships require not only a certified athletics track and sufficient grandstand capacity, but also training facilities, accreditation centres, media areas, television production, security systems, accommodation for a large number of national teams and efficient connections between the stadium, hotels and the international airport. Nairobi will test some of those systems through preparations for AFCON 2027, which Kenya will organize together with Tanzania and Uganda. At the beginning of September 2026, CAF confirmed the continuation of infrastructure inspections in all three countries and checks of stadiums, hotels, transport solutions, security, media operations and logistics.
The 2029 World Championships will be the last with the marathon in its current format
The Nairobi edition will also have an additional historic distinction related to the competition programme. In April 2026, World Athletics announced a plan under which the marathon will remain part of the 2027 World Championships in Beijing and the 2029 championships in Nairobi, before moving to a separate World Marathon Championships from 2030. From 2031, the marathon will no longer be part of the main World Athletics Championships, meaning Nairobi is expected to be the last host where stadium events and world championship marathon races are held within the same championships in their current format.
That change could further increase interest in road races in Kenya, a country whose runners have for decades been among the leaders at the world's biggest marathons. At the same time, organizing marathon races within a major city brings separate requirements regarding the course, road closures, security, television coverage and conditions for athletes. World Athletics has not yet published details of the route for 2029, so it remains unclear whether the start and finish will be connected to Kasarani or whether organizers will choose a different concept. Those operational details will form part of the multi-year preparations that follow confirmation of the host city.
Munich 2031 brings the championships back to Germany
While Nairobi opens a new chapter for Africa, Munich will bring the World Championships back to Germany in 2031 for the first time since Berlin in 2009. It will be the third edition in that country, after Stuttgart in 1993 and Berlin in 2009, but the first in Munich. The main venue will be the Olympic Stadium, one of the most recognizable sporting facilities in Europe, which in 2022 was the centrepiece of the multi-sport European Championships. According to World Athletics data, athletics competitions at that event attracted around 267,000 spectators.
In Munich's bid, the international federation particularly highlights the combination of the existing sports complex, experience in organizing major competitions and plans related to sustainability. Sebastian Coe said that the Olympiapark is a symbol of the long-term use of sports infrastructure and that organizers plan to align the championships with international standards and the Athletics for a Better World Gold Event programme. For World Athletics, the sequence Beijing 2027 - Nairobi 2029 - Munich 2031 also represents a geographically balanced series of championships across three continents.
What comes next before 2029
Following the hosting decision, a multi-year period of detailed planning begins in which World Athletics and the local organizing committee will have to define the competition schedule, qualification system, ticket sales, transport, accommodation for national teams, volunteer programme, security and media operations. The renovation of Kasarani will be one of the most important infrastructure projects, but equally important will be auxiliary stadiums and training centres, transport solutions and the city's ability to accommodate a large number of athletes, officials, journalists and fans within a short period. Experience from the 2017 and 2021 competitions, as well as preparations for AFCON 2027, will serve as an important operational test before the arrival of the world's senior athletics elite.
For international visitors, it is still too early to make final travel plans because the exact dates of the 2029 championships, the competition schedule and ticket information have not been announced. World Athletics has so far confirmed only that the competition will take place during September. As the championships approach, demand for flights, local transport and accommodation in Nairobi is expected to increase, especially during the period of the main finals. Organizers will therefore have to coordinate sporting requirements with the capacity of the city and the wider tourism infrastructure.
Awarding the hosting rights to Nairobi changes the map of the biggest athletics competitions and for the first time brings their central global event to a continent that has produced a large number of Olympic and world champions. Kenya now faces a three-year period in which the historic decision will have to be turned into an operationally successful championship, from completing the stadium to organizing the everyday functioning of the event. For World Athletics, 2029 will simultaneously be a test of the model of expanding the championships into new markets, and Nairobi's success could also influence future bids by other African cities for the world's biggest sporting events.
Sources:
- World Athletics - official announcement on the selection of Nairobi to host the 2029 World Championships and Munich for 2031, the bids, Kasarani and the organizational context (link)
- World Athletics - official calendar of the bidding process for the 2029 and 2031 World Championships (link)
- World Athletics - decision to introduce a separate World Marathon Championships from 2030 and the status of the marathon at the 2029 and 2031 championships (link)
- CAF - official information on infrastructure inspections and preparations by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for AFCON 2027 (link)
- Inside the Games - report on the 2029 decision, the competing bids from London, Rome and Munich, and the awarding of the 2031 edition to Munich (link)