Nairobi Selected for 2029 World Athletics Championships, First African Host

World Athletics president Seb Coe announced on September 15 that Nairobi will host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, making it the first African city to hold the event. Munich was selected to stage the 2031 championships.

Four cities bid for the two host slots: London, Nairobi, Rome, and Munich. The World Athletics council, executive board, and headquarters leadership team deliberated over the selection because all four offered strong propositions, according to Coe's statement carried by the Guardian. "This has not, as you can imagine, been an easy decision," Coe said.

London had been seen widely as the frontrunner for 2029, per Guardian reporting. A source in the London bid team told the Guardian they were "gutted" at the outcome, having felt they had a strong proposition. Two reported obstacles to London's bid were a lengthy dispute with West Ham over stadium permission for September 2029 and sparse crowds on the opening days of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.

Coe characterized Nairobi as "a fast-growing, dynamic, modern metropolis that serves as the economic, cultural, and political hub of East Africa." He noted that Kenya is home to world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, and Hellen Obiri; Olympic champion David Rudisha; two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino; multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat; and multiple world half-marathon champion Tegla Loroupe. Coe stated: "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."

On Munich, Coe said the city "had all the ingredients to be a spectacular world championships." Munich's presentation to the World Athletics evaluation panel was extraordinarily strong, making it the outstanding contender for 2031, according to Coe. He noted that Berlin 2009 remains one of the memorable editions of the championships, citing regional precedent.

Both Nairobi 2029 and Munich 2031 are scheduled for September at the climax of the season. The World Athletics Championships next takes place in Beijing from September 10 to 19, 2027.