World Athletics Championships: London misses out as Nairobi secures 2029 event | 'We are deeply disappointed'

The World Athletics Championships are heading to Africa for the first time after Kenya's capital Nairobi was confirmed as host of the 2029 edition, with London missing out.

Kenya has long been a superpower in distance running but has yet to host an event of this scale. The championships will return to Germany in 2031 with Munich hosting.

"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 as he announced the decision following the Ultimate Championship in Hungary.

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"The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underlines the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships."

Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of Athletic Ventures, said: "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.

"The UK is an incredible host for major sports events and the British public loves athletics. Athletic Ventures has the ambition to bring those events here and, although today's announcement hasn't gone our way, we will review and regroup. We know the world's athletes love competing here and we'll continue to explore further opportunities to make that happen.

"Our congratulations go to Nairobi and we wish the organising committee all the best for a great event in 2029."

Nairobi's selection represents a landmark moment for athletics, bringing its biggest global event to Africa for the first time.

"Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic," Coe said. "Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya."

After the new Ultimate Championship brought big cash prizes instead of medals for an invitation-only field of track's biggest names, it is back to the traditional worlds format next year in Beijing.

The World Championships run for 10 days, against three for the new Ultimate Championship, with a full slate of events. That means including competitions like the men's triple jump, shot put, walks and marathon which were not on the schedule in Budapest last week.

"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," Coe added.

"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."

(c) Sky Sports 2026: World Athletics Championships: London misses out as Nairobi secures 2029 event | 'We are deeply disappointed'