‘Kenya’s moment’ as Nairobi to host 2029 world athletics champs in African first

Nairobi will host the 2029 world outdoor athletics championships, beating off competition from London, Munich and Rome to become the first African hosts, World Athletics announced Tuesday.

The 2031 championships will be held in Munich, track and field’s governing body said after a council meeting in Budapest, host to the recently-concluded Ultimate Championship.

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told a press conference.

The 2027 event has already been awarded to Beijing.

“This council decision today means we’re able to deliver our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa, and Europe over its next three editions,” the Briton added.

“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic. Nairobi has presented a compelling and an emotional bid.”

Kenyan President William Ruto hailed Nairobi’s successful bid, saying: “This is Kenya’s moment, Africa’s moment and a victory for generations of athletes who made our nation synonymous with excellence on the track, on the road and cross country.”

Coe added: “It was important that the world championship 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 to supercharge the development of our sport in Kenya and across Africa, leaving a compelling legacy that inspires a continent.”

Kenya, which failed with a bid for the 2025 world championships, has previously hosted the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, the World under-18 Championships in Nairobi in 2017 and the World under-20 Championships in the capital in 2021.

Nairobi also staged the 2010 African Athletics Championships.

Woven into fabric

“Having also been part of the bidding process for 2025, the (Nairobi) team understood and grasped what was required, and came back with a stronger proposition, and a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is currently undergoing a complete overhaul ahead of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027,” said Coe.

“Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya,” Coe added, name dropping world and Olympic middle distance star Faith Kipyegon as one of many Kenyan athletes to “have shaped the history of our sport” and also praising the “extraordinary” level of fan engagement in the east African country.

One concern, however, will be Kenya’s track record on anti-doping, with more than 140 Kenyan athletes, mainly long-distance runners, having been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for taking banned substances since 2017 — more than those from any other country.

Turning to Munich, which most recently hosted at the city’s Olympic Park the 2022 European Athletics Championships, Coe said: “Germany has proved time and time again that it is an outstanding and creative host for major athletics events.

“We know Germany has an audience for athletics, and we know Munich 2031 has all the ingredients to be a spectacular World Athletics Championships.”

Coe played down the fact that three consecutive world championships would be held away from Europe, despite describing the continent as a track and field “heartland”.

“We openly accept that it is in large part the breadbasket of our sport.

“But we do also have a responsibility to make sure that an international governing federation, made up of well over 200 federations, has the opportunity to be able to take our championships into areas that strategically we think will actually grow the footprint of our sport.”

Coe added that there had been “a lot of interest” in hosting the 2028 edition of the Ultimate Championship, created this year as a three-day, season-ending competition bringing the best of the best together.

“There’s already heightened interest in wanting to stage those championships,” he said, with World Athletics aiming to name the host city by the end of the year.