Will Kenya become the first African country to host World Championships?

Beatrice Chebet celebrates after winning the women's 10000m final during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 13, 2025. [AFP]

Kenya will know in September this year whether it will host the 2029 or 2031 World Athletics Championships, the most prestigious international track and field event.

The country, which has dominated the World Championships for decades, has been dreaming of becoming the first African nation to host the biennial show.

Kenya is crossing its fingers as it waits for results of the bidding process at the inaugural Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

A team led by Kenya’s father of marathon running Ibrahim Hussein – a three-time Boston Marathon Champion, who is hosting the Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour in Eldoret is spearheading the country’s race to host one of the two World Championships.

Athletics Kenya (AK) President Jackson Tuwei says the country is hopeful of hosting the world’s biggest athletics event in Nairobi.

Tuwei, who is also the World Athletics Vice President, reminded athletics enthusiasts that Kenya had previously submitted a bid to host the 2025 World Championships but lost to Tokyo.

Kenya, alongside Poland and Singapore among others had bid to the last event in Tokyo but all lost to Japan. Beijing will host next year’s edition.

“We have applied to host the 2029 or 2031 World Championships in Nairobi,” Tuwei said in Eldoret.

The AK President said Nairobi successfully hosted the World Under-20 Championships in 2021 and the 2017 World Under-18 championships and was ready for the biggest extravaganza.

He said Kenya had already won the first round of the bidding process and was hopeful of hosting the event.

“The committee is being led by Ibrahim Hussein and they have already sent their first indication to World Athletics and it has been accepted and we are now in the second stage. The final results will be out in September,” Tuwei said.

He added: “The World Championships has never been held on African soil although we have had the World Under-18 and the World Under-20 in Kenya. We have also had the World Cross Country Championships here in Kenya. But we want to go to the main event – the World Championships.”

According to Tuwei, global events hosted by Kenya in recent years have been under close scrutiny as part of the selection process for the hosting rights.

They include the Kip Keino Classic, a track and field event that Nairobi has hosted since 2020. Kenya’s bidding has been widely seen as a push to bring the global showpiece to African soil.

“Last year, the World Athletics came here to find which country can host an event for the youth. The same exercise was done across all the 213 member countries of the World Athletics and eventually when the results were out, Kenya emerged the best,” says Tuwei. Kenya is however in a tight race which has London, United Kingdom and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the hosting rights.

Countries such as Germany, Japan, Singapore, Italy and South Korea among others have expressed interest but Nairobi, London and Addis Ababa are among favourites. Last September, Kenya formally submitted its bid to host the 2029 or 2031 World Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said at the time that Kenya had entered the pre-qualification stage with World Athletics.

Mvurya put forward a strong case for Kenya’s push, saying the country’s track record gives it an upper hand.

After holding talks in Tokyo with World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, the Sports CS further said that the bid had the full backing of the Kenyan government, from the top level.