Nairobi to host 2029 World Athletics Championships, a first for Africa

Nairobi will host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first African city to stage the sport's flagship global competition. Kenya's bid won at a World Athletics Council meeting in Budapest on September 15, ending a three-year campaign.

The championships were first held in Helsinki in 1983, with 1,333 athletes from 153 countries taking part. In the decades since, they have travelled across continents but never to Africa, despite the continent's long record in the sport — from Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, the first African to win Olympic marathon gold in 1960, to Uganda's John Akii-Bua and Morocco's Said Aouita.

Kenya's running pedigree

Kenya features prominently in that history. Kipchoge Keino's 1,500-metre win at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics helped establish the country as a distance-running power, and later generations — Paul Tergat, David Rudisha, Eliud Kipchoge, Vivian Cheruiyot, Hellen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon — built on it. Kenya is the second most successful nation in the championships' history.

Keino, a two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder, told Al Jazeera the decision was "a deeply special moment" and "a testament to how far our country has come from sending athletes abroad to compete, to welcoming the world to our own home." He said hosting would let Kenya showcase its talent, culture and hospitality while investing in athletics.

Bid beat London, Rome and Munich

Nairobi's rivals were London, Rome and Munich, all with established records of hosting major athletics events. The Kenyan bid pointed to the renovation of Kasarani stadium ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, and to the country's experience with the 2017 World U18 Championships and the 2021 World U20 Championships. Kenya also drew on its unsuccessful bid for the 2025 championships, which went to Tokyo.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said the council had received four strong bids and described Nairobi's proposal as "compelling and emotional". He said Nairobi and Munich "ultimately presented two compelling propositions" and that World Athletics would work with both cities. Athletics Kenya declined to comment on the decision.

Doping questions

The celebrations were accompanied by scrutiny over doping. Since World Athletics set up the Athletics Integrity Unit in 2017, 318 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations, with 136 still serving bans. Kenya is not among the countries with the highest overall number of violations, but its distance-running profile means its cases draw international attention.

In 2025, the World Anti-Doping Agency found Kenya's anti-doping agency non-compliant with the global code; Kenya was removed from the compliance watchlist in 2026 after corrective measures. Bans for marathon world-record holder Ruth Chepngetich and former half-marathon world-record holder Kibiwott Kandie have kept the issue in focus.

Infrastructure test

Dan Wanyama, the Kenyan MP who chairs parliament's sports and culture committee, told Al Jazeera the country has the right infrastructure, noting the championships will be held at Moi International Sports Stadium, known locally as Kasarani, where a contractor is already on site.

Beyond a competition venue, Nairobi will need training and warm-up facilities plus improvements to transport links, accommodation and athlete services, along with reliable systems for security, accreditation, broadcasting and medical care. Traffic congestion and public transport are likely to come under scrutiny.

Fan Winston Omondi said some criticism of Kenya was unfairly focused on the country. "We have come so far as people, as a country and as a continent for us to be judged in this way," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera.