Nairobi To Host 2029 World Athletics Championships
Nairobi will make history as the first African city to host the World Athletics Championships after Kenya’s capital was confirmed as the venue for the 2029 edition on Tuesday.
The decision was announced by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe following the Ultimate Championship in Hungary, bringing the sport’s biggest event outside the Olympics to a continent that has produced generations of track and field stars.
“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” Coe said. “Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya.”
Kenya is a global powerhouse in distance running and sits second behind the United States on the all-time World Athletics Championships medal table.
Nairobi Gets Historic World Athletics Honour
Kenyan sports minister Salim Mvurya welcomed the decision, saying the championships would come to a country where running holds a special place in national life.
“The world will come to a country where running is more than competition, it is our national story,” Mvurya said.
Nairobi’s selection could also create unusual conditions for athletes. The city sits at a high altitude, making it the highest-altitude host in World Athletics Championships history.
The thinner air can reduce resistance for runners, although athletes may need time to adjust to the altitude and its physiological demands.
The championships will be staged at a stadium that is already being upgraded ahead of Kenya’s role as co-host of the Africa Cup of Nations next year.
Coe said the timing and circumstances made Nairobi the right choice.
“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. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment,” he said.
Kenya’s Doping Record Under Spotlight
While the 2029 World Athletics Championships will mark an important recognition of Kenya’s status as a track and field nation, the country’s doping record is likely to attract renewed attention.
A number of elite Kenyan athletes have been suspended for doping offences over the past decade.
Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng’etich is currently serving a three-year doping ban, adding to the scrutiny surrounding the country’s distance-running programme.
The championships will nevertheless provide Kenyan fans with an opportunity to watch the world’s leading athletes compete on home soil.
Coe said World Athletics research had identified Kenya as the most passionate market for track and field among those surveyed.
Munich To Host 2031 Championships
World Athletics also confirmed that the championships will return to Germany in 2031, with Munich selected as the host city.
It will be the first time Munich stages the World Athletics Championships, although Germany has previously hosted the event in Berlin in 2009 and Stuttgart in 1993.
The 2031 championships could also strengthen Munich’s ambitions to host the Olympics in the future.
London, which last hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2017, had also bid for the 2029 edition but was unsuccessful. Rome was the other losing candidate.
World Championships Return To Traditional Format
The announcements came after athletics experimented with a different format at the inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
The new event featured an invitation-only field of leading athletes and offered substantial cash prizes rather than traditional medal competition.
The World Athletics Championships will retain the established format when Beijing hosts the next edition in 2027.
The championships will run for 10 days, compared with three days for the Ultimate Championship, and feature a full programme of events.
Disciplines such as the men’s triple jump, shot put, race walks and marathon, which were not part of the Budapest event, will return to the schedule.
The Ultimate Championship is yet to confirm a host for its next edition in 2028, but Coe said there was considerable interest following its debut.
“I think the proof of concept worked pretty well. There are things that we will obviously look at and adjust,” Coe said.
“There’s already heightened interest in wanting to stage those championships,” he added.
The 2029 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi will therefore represent a landmark moment for African athletics, bringing the global sport’s premier championships to the continent for the first time.
