World Athletics announced the decision on Tuesday following a council meeting in Budapest, with Germany’s Munich selected to host the 2031 edition of the championships.
The 2027 edition has already been awarded to Beijing, meaning the next three championships will be staged in Asia, Africa and Europe respectively. World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, described Nairobi’s successful bid as a historic moment for the sport on the continent.
“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic. Nairobi has presented a compelling and emotional bid,” Coe told a press conference. He added, “It was important that the world championship should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid, and the right circumstances.”
According to Coe, Nairobi’s bid was strengthened by its experience in hosting international athletics events and the renovation of Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing a major overhaul ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Having also been part of the bidding process for 2025, the (Nairobi) team understood and grasped what was required, and came back with a stronger proposition and a renovated Kasarani Stadium,” he said.
Coe said Kenya’s strong athletics culture and fan support were also factors in the decision, describing athletics as being “woven into the fabric of Kenya”.
He cited world and Olympic middle-distance champion Faith Kipyegon and other Kenyan athletes who, he said, “have shaped the history of our sport”. Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Salim Mvurya, said the decision affirmed the country’s position in global athletics.
“The global athletics family has affirmed Kenya’s place at the heart of World Athletics,” Mvurya said.
“The world will come to a country where running is more than competition. It is our national story, and where every generation believes that the next world champion can emerge from Kenya.”
Kenya previously bid unsuccessfully to host the 2025 championships. The country has, however, staged several major athletics competitions, including the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, the 2017 World Under-18 Championships and the 2021 World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi.
Nairobi also hosted the 2010 African Athletics Championships. Coe said Munich’s selection for 2031 would give Germany another opportunity to host a major athletics event, following the 2022 European Athletics Championships at the city’s Olympic Park.
“Germany has proved time and time again that it is an outstanding and creative host for major athletics events,” he said.
Coe also defended the decision to stage three successive World Athletics Championships outside Europe, describing the continent as a “heartland” and “breadbasket” of the sport.
He said World Athletics had a responsibility to take its championships to regions where they could help expand the sport’s global reach.
“We openly accept that it is in large part the breadbasket of our sport,” Coe said.
“But we do also have a responsibility to make sure that an international governing federation, made up of well over 200 federations, has the opportunity to be able to take our championships into areas that strategically we think will actually grow the footprint of our sport.”
Coe also said there had been “a lot of interest” in hosting the 2028 Ultimate Championship, a new three-day season-ending competition featuring leading athletes.
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