Editor's Review

Kenya has made history by becoming the first African Country to host the World Athletics Championships.

Kenya has made history by becoming the first African Country to host the World Athletics Championships since the competition's launch in 1983.

In a statement issued Tuesday, September 15, World Athletics confirmed that Nairobi will host the competition in 2029.

The organisation explained that Nairobi had been settled upon following one of the strongest bidding processes in the history of the sport's flagship event.

"The decision, made during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting in Budapest on Monday and Tuesday (14-15), means that the World Athletics Championships will be held in Africa for the first time when the Kenyan capital stages the 2029 edition, before returning to Germany for a third time two years later, this time in Munich’s iconic Olympic Stadium," the statement read.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe further announced that Munich won the bid to host the Championships in 2031.

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A file photo of Kenyan athletes at a previous World Athletics Championships event.

“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships,” Coe reiterated.

Coe added that Kenya is one of the greatest athletics nations and that the sport is woven into the fabric of the country.

“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,” the World Athletic President added,

Nairobi had previously submitted a bid to host the competition in 2025, but lost to Tokyo, Japan.

However, they made a stronger proposition for 2029, accompanied with a decade of experience in staging major international athletic events. These include Nairobi, which hosted the 2017 World U18 Championships, the World U20 Championships in 2021 and the Kip Keino Classic.

"That experience provided firm foundations for a 2029 bid that combined strong operational planning and financial guarantees with a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing a complete structural overhaul of all facilities ahead of hosting the AFCON2027 two years before the World Athletics Championships, and a compelling vision for the first World Athletics Championships in Africa.," World Athletics wrote.