Nairobi Bids to Host 2029 World Championships, Africa’s First

Kenya has won more distance-running world titles than any nation in the sport, yet it has never hosted the championships where those titles are handed out. Nairobi is now trying to close that gap, entering the race to stage the World Athletics Championships in 2029 in a bid that would bring the event to African soil for the first time.

The Kenyan capital is one of four cities in the running, alongside London, Rome and Munich. Kenya’s government has thrown its full weight behind the bid, promising the security, organization and infrastructure required to host an event of that scale, with the 48,000-seat Kasarani stadium as the intended venue. Athletics Kenya has described the bid as a strong case for finally bringing the championships to Africa.

What sets Nairobi apart from its rivals is the altitude. The city sits at about 5,500 feet (1,680 meters) above sea level, and no senior World Championships has been staged that high. The nearest precedent is the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where thin air helped produce a wave of sprint and jump records while distance times lagged.

The effect runs in two directions: thinner air offers less resistance to a sprinter and less oxygen to a distance runner. For the marathon and the long track races, the events Kenya dominates, a championship at that height would almost certainly mean slower winning times than one at sea level. It is why Kenyan athletes, from Eliud Kipchoge to Sabastian Sawe, build their fitness at altitude, in camps like Kaptagat and around Iten, then chase their fastest marks nearer the coast.

Kenya arrives with a deep record in the sport. Its athletes own 17 current world records on the track and the roads, hold 72 world titles and 38 Olympic golds, and range from Faith Kipyegon at 1,500m to both marathons. The team placed second at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, taking seven golds among its 11 medals.

Kenya has hosted global championships before, though never the senior worlds. It ran the World Cross Country meet in Mombasa in 2007, and Nairobi has twice welcomed age-group world championships, at under-18 level in 2017 and under-20 in 2021. An earlier Kenyan attempt, for 2025, fell short when those rights went to Tokyo. Nairobi had a turn on the senior continental stage too, hosting the African Athletics Championships back in 2010. The three rivals bring heavier senior credentials. London drew record crowds as host in 2017, Rome held the championships in 1987, and Munich ran the 2022 European Championships.

A Nairobi win would extend a run of major events heading to the continent. Botswana hosted the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone in May, the first edition of that event on the continent, and Kenya will co-host soccer’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Tanzania and Uganda. The host for 2029 will be chosen in September.