BREAKING: Nairobi Wins Bid to Host 2029 World Athletics Championships

Kenya has won the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, World Athletics announced on Tuesday, making Nairobi the first African city ever entrusted with staging the sport's flagship global event.

The decision was reached during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, where Nairobi's bid beat out rival proposals from London, Rome and Munich. Germany's Munich was subsequently awarded the 2031 edition, while Beijing had already secured hosting rights for 2027. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe described the process as one of the most competitive in the championships' history, saying Nairobi had presented a compelling and emotional bid built on Kenya's standing as one of the great athletics nations.

Nairobi's proposal was anchored on Kenya's unmatched distance-running pedigree and its track record of successfully staging global age-category events at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, including the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021. Organisers also pointed to Kenya's second-place finish on the medal table at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, where the country won seven gold medals and eleven medals overall, as evidence of its credentials as host.

President William Ruto welcomed the announcement, calling it Kenya's moment and Africa's moment, and pledged that the country would deliver a championship worthy of its athletes and the continent. The win ends a 46-year wait for Africa to host the event since it was first held in 1983, and gives Kenya four years to prepare venues, transport and accommodation for what will be one of the largest sporting events the country has ever staged.