World Athletics Championships 2029: London Misses Out on Bid to Nairobi – BBC Sport
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London Misses Out to Nairobi in World Athletics Bid
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: The London Stadium hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2017
By Ffion Wynne, BBC Sport Journalist
Published: 15 September 2026, 10:39 BST
Updated: 1 minute ago
London has missed out to Nairobi in the bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
The decision was confirmed at a World Athletics council meeting in Budapest, and it will be the first time that an African city has hosted the event. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said Nairobi presented "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," said Coe.
"…Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic."
The London Stadium, home of Championship club West Ham United, was the proposed host venue for the UK bid. The stadium also hosted the 2012 Olympic Games and the yearly London Diamond League.
Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics, 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."
Rome was the other city to miss out, as World Athletics also confirmed that Munich would host the 2031 event for the first time.
Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, submitted a bid for the 2025 championships but missed out to Tokyo. The city’s Kasarani Stadium is being renovated before the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 2027, which strengthened its case as a host venue.
Kenya finished second in the medal table at the 2025 edition, winning seven gold medals and 11 in total.
