London has lost its bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, with Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, selected to stage the global athletics showpiece for the first time in Africa.
The decision was confirmed at a World Athletics Council meeting in Budapest, with World Athletics president Sebastian Coe praising Nairobi’s proposal as “a compelling and emotional bid.”
“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council,” Coe said.
“With this decision today, we continue to fulfil 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 presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic.
“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.”
London had proposed the London Stadium, home of Championship club West Ham United, as the main venue for its UK bid.
The stadium hosted athletics events during the 2012 Olympic Games and is also the venue for the annual London Diamond League. It previously hosted the World Athletics Championships when London staged the competition in 2017.
The UK bid was led by Athletic Ventures, a partnership comprising UK Athletics, London Marathon Events and the Great Run Company.
Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of Athletic Ventures, expressed disappointment over the decision.
“We are deeply disappointed that the 2029 World Athletics Championships will not be held in London. 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.”
Rome was the other unsuccessful bidder, while World Athletics confirmed Munich as the host of the 2031 championships.
Nairobi had previously bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships but lost out to Tokyo.
The Kenyan capital’s case was strengthened by preparations at Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing renovations ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Kenya also finished second on the medal table at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, winning seven gold medals and 11 medals overall.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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