Nairobi Selected as 2029 World Athletics Championships Hosts; Munich Gets 2031

World Athletics has announced that Nairobi, Kenya, will host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, while and Munich, Germany, will do the same in 2031.

The decision was announced during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting in Budapest, which was held from September 14—15.

It means that the World Athletics Championships will be held in Africa for the first time when the Kenyan capital stages the 2029 edition, while the Championships will return to Germany for a third time two years later, this time at Munich’s Olympic Stadium.

Nairobi and Munich were successful in fending off competing bids from London and Rome for the two events.

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underlines the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships.

“With this Council decision today, we continue to fulfill our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.

“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.”

Africa No Stranger to Major Events

While Nairobi will become the first city to host a World Athletics Championships on African soil, the continent is not new to staging World Athletics events.

Kampala, the capital of Uganda, hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, Nairobi previously delivered the World U18 Championships in the same year and the World U20 Championships in 2021, and Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, staged the World Athletics Relays earlier this year — also the first edition of the event to be held in Africa.

Nairobi previously submitted a bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which was later awarded to Tokyo, Japan. Its latest bid, however, provided strong operational planning and financial guarantees with a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is also undergoing renovations ahead of soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations 2027, two years before hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships.

Kenya’s connection with athletics is evident — 68 percent of Kenyan people rated their interest in athletics as high, according to World Athletics fan research, while it is also the second-most-successful nation in World Athletics Championships history since 1983 (winning 182 medals, including 72 golds, 60 silvers and 50 bronzes in total).

“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” said Coe. “Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country, and athletes such as world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri and David Rudisha, as well as two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino, multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat and multiple world half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe, have shaped the history of our sport.

“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.”

Munich Utilizing Olympic Roots

Munich’s successful bid will bring the World Athletics Championships back to Germany for the first time since Berlin staged the event back in 2009 (and Stuttgart in 1993 before that), but it will be the first time that the Bavarian city will host these Championships.

Germany previously demonstrated its ability to stage major athletics events and attract large crowds, from Berlin’s hosting of the 2018 European Championships to Munich’s hosting of the 2022 multisport European Championships.

The bid for the 2031 edition was estimated to be worth €123 million ($142 million), or €120 million ($138 million) if the 2029 bid had been successful. The Olympiastadion in Munich’s Olympiapark is set to host the 2031 Championships, having been built for the 1972 Olympic Summer Games.

The city is also seeking to host the Olympic Summer Games in either 2036, 2040 or 2044, though it would have to fend off rival German bids from Berlin and the Rhine-Ruhr region. Germany’s internal selection host is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

“Germany has proved time and again that it is an outstanding and dependable host for major athletics events,” said Coe. “Berlin 2009 remains one of the memorable editions of the World Championships, and we have since seen tremendous support for the sport at the European Championships in Berlin and Munich.

“We wholeheartedly believe in the vision for Munich Olympiapark – one of the iconic venues in world sport – to merge the German people’s enthusiasm for athletics with the special flair of an art and culture festival to create a unique and powerful overall experience. The atmosphere in 2022 was exceptional and the attendance figures demonstrated the appetite that exists in the city and across Germany for major events.

“The Olympiapark is also a symbol of sustainability, and we are assured that this will be a core value in the planning and implementation of the World Championships, aligned with international best practices and the Athletics for a Better World Gold Event standard.

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

Unsuccessful Bids

London and Rome were the two cities to miss out on hosting the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships.

London’s bid, estimated to be worth £45 million ($60.5 million), was submitted last month by Athletic Ventures, a joint venture between UK Athletics, London Marathon Events and The Great Run Company. Having last hosted the Championships in 2015, London had reached an agreement with English Football League Championship club West Ham United that would have allowed it to host the Championships at the London Stadium if its bid had been successful.

“We are deeply disappointed that the 2029 World Athletics Championships will not be held in London,” said Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of Athletic Ventures, in a statement. “We believed we had an outstanding bid which would genuinely take the sport to new levels.

“We would like to thank the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and UK Sport for their fantastic support for our bid. Our thanks also to the London Stadium, West Ham United and our many stakeholders for their commitment and hard work to put the bid together.

“Our congratulations go to Nairobi and we wish the organising committee all the best for a great event in 2029.”
Meanwhile, Rome last hosted the World Athletics Championships in 1987 at the city’s Stadio Olimpico, and its bid for the 2029 edition was supported by the Italian government.

World Athletics Events

The next World Athletics Championships will take place in Beijing, China, from September 10—19, 2027. Both the 2029 and 2031 editions will also be staged in the month of September in line with the global athletics calendar.

Earlier this month, World Athletics also hosted its inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary. The Championship, held between September 10—13, is a new biennial track-and-field invitational event featuring 28 events and a record $10 million prize pot for athletes, which is designed to serve as a fast-paced, season-ending showdown in years when World Athletics Championships are not organized.

Later this week, World Athletics will host its Global Running Conference 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where SportsTravel Senior Editor Paul Stevens will be in attendance. The conference is being held in connection with the World Athletics Road Running Champions Copenhagen 26, in which up to 65,000 runners will participate.