Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, will host the 2029 World Athletics Championships — the premier global event in track and field — marking the first time the competition has ever been held on the African continent. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe announced the decision on Tuesday following the conclusion of the inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary. The 2031 edition is already confirmed for Munich, Germany, with next year's championships set for Beijing.
The award fulfils a long-stated ambition for Coe, who is in his final term leading World Athletics. "Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic," he said. "Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya." Coe added that World Athletics research had identified Kenya as the most passionate market for track and field among all countries surveyed, and that the bid from Nairobi was "emphatically" the right moment to bring the championships to the continent. Salim Mvurya, Kenya's government minister responsible for sports, welcomed the decision by saying "the world will come to a country where running is more than competition — it is our national story."
Nairobi had previously bid unsuccessfully for the 2025 World Championships, which were awarded to Tokyo. The 2029 event will take place at the Kasarani Stadium, a venue in the Kenyan capital that hosted the Under-18 World Athletics Championships in 2017 and is currently undergoing renovation ahead of Kenya's co-hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament in 2027. London and Rome were the other losing candidates for the 2029 edition, with London having last hosted the championships in 2017.
Kenya's selection brings well-deserved recognition for a nation that sits second on the all-time World Athletics Championships medal table, behind only the United States, with a particularly dominant record in middle- and long-distance events. However, the spotlight is also likely to intensify scrutiny of Kenya's troubled record on doping. Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng'etich is among numerous elite-level Kenyan athletes to have received bans in recent years, and is currently serving a three-year suspension.
The traditional World Athletics Championships format — running over ten days with a full programme of events including field disciplines, race walks, and road races — contrasts with the newly launched Ultimate Championship, a three-day invitation-only event that replaced medals with large cash prizes. That format made its debut in Budapest this week, and while Coe said the "proof of concept worked pretty well," no host has yet been confirmed for its next edition in 2028. The Nairobi announcement nonetheless underscores athletics' growing global reach at a moment when the sport is actively reshaping its competitive calendar.