London Rivals Rome, Munich, Nairobi to Host 2029 World Athletics Championships

Athletic Ventures, the joint venture between UK Athletics, London Marathon Events and The Great Run Company, has announced that it has formally submitted its bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships in London, England.
The venture successfully reached an agreement with English Football League Championship club West Ham United that would allow it to host the Championships at the London Stadium if its bid were to be successful. Although West Ham had argued that they should get priority for the stadium in the early weeks of their football season, they eventually reached a mutual agreement following discussions with the London Mayor’s office, Athletic Ventures and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

London’s bid, estimated to be worth £45 million ($60.5 million), will compete with Rome (Italy) Munich (Germany) and Nairobi (Kenya) to stage the Championships in three years’ time. The city last hosted the Championships back in 2015.

The biennial event typically comprises nine days of competition with 50 athletics/track & field events, taking place either in a stadium or on the road. Around 2000 athletes from more than 195 nations compete for medals.

Next year, Beijing, China, will host the 2027 World Athletics Championships from September 11—19, 2027. Events will take place at the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium, 12 years on from the last time that the Chinese capital hosted the Championships.

World Athletics is scheduled to announce the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships host city on September 20, after the conclusion of the inaugural ­Ultimate Championship in ­Budapest, Hungary.

London Reaction

“Bidding to hold the World Athletics Championships in the London Stadium, the showpiece of London 2012, was always at the centre of the UK’s Olympic legacy plans,” said Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of AV. “We are very grateful to the government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London, and UK Sport for their fantastic support for this bid.

“We’re delighted that we have reached agreement with the London Stadium and West Ham United for the use of the London Stadium, and our sincere thanks for their commitment in making this happen.”

“London has submitted an outstanding bid to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships,” said Paul Foster, CEO of The Great Run Company and co-founder of AV. “It is the world’s number one sporting city, and its track record in delivering major athletics and running events is unsurpassed – from the London 2012 Olympic Games to the 2017 World Athletics Championships, and from the annual London Marathon, the world’s largest marathon, to the world’s largest annual one-day track meet in London Diamond League.”

“Our bid is not just about what happens within the London Stadium,” said Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events and co-founder of AV. “Sport has the power to bring communities together, to change lives, and to inspire the next generation.

“The 2029 World Athletics Championships in London would drive more than £400 million in economic and social benefit in the capital and nationwide. Our innovative plans for staging parallel mass participation events for all ages and abilities across the UK as part of the bid will help to get the UK moving again, with all the mental and physical health benefits that activity brings.”

Rival Bids

Rome last hosted the World Athletics Championships in 1987 at the city’s Stadio Olimpico. Its bid for the 2029 edition was supported by the Italian government after receiving the relevant financial guarantees from the bid team and discussions with Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti and Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi.

The news was welcomed by Italian Athletics Federation President Stefano Mei and Italian Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio, who said the bid would demonstrate their country’s commitment to and expertise in hosting major international sports events.
Meanwhile, Munich is bidding to host the World Athletics Championships for the very first time in 2029 or 2031, following previous editions in Germany in Stuttgart in 1993 and Berlin in 2009. The bid is estimated to be worth €120 million ($138 million) for 2029 or €123 million ($142 million) for 2031 if successful, and events would be expected to take place at the Olympiastadion, which was built for the 1972 Olympic Summer Games.

The submission is also seen as an opportunity to drive Munich’s ambitions to welcome the Summer Games back to Germany in either 2036, 2040, or 2044. The city, however, will need to fend off rival bids from Berlin and the Rhine-Ruhr region to be Germany’s internal selection host later this year.

Finally, Nairobi is seeking to become the first city in Africa to host the World Athletics Championships, which could tip the balance if World Athletics wants to expand the global footprint of track & field further.