Nairobi, Kenya, will host the 2029 World Track and Field Championships, becoming the first African city to host the biennial meet.
Munich, Germany, will host the 2031 edition, one year before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
London and Rome were also believed to be bidders for worlds.
“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” World Athletics President Seb Coe said. “Nairobi has presented a compelling and an emotional bid. This is a fast-growing, dynamic, modern metropolis that serves as the economic, cultural and political hub of East Africa.”
Nairobi hosted the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021, plus holds an annual international meet, the Kip Keino Classic.
The 2029 Worlds, the 22nd edition, will be at Kasarani Stadium, “which is currently undergoing a complete overhaul” before the Africa Cup of Nations men’s soccer tournament that Kenya co-hosts in 2027, Coe said.
Kenya has long been a distance-running power with Olympic legends including Faith Kipyegon, Eliud Kipchoge and David Rudisha.
The world’s top sprinters could shine in 2029 given Nairobi sits a mile above sea level. The thinner air typically produces faster times.
“It was important that the World Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances,” Coe said. “Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment to super charge the development of our sport in Kenya and across Africa, leaving a compelling legacy that inspires a continent.”
The next World Championships in 2027 will be in Beijing.
With the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2032 Olympics in Australia, the next five combined Olympics and Worlds will be held on five different continents.
