Nairobi 2029: Africa takes centre stage

by MARIA MACHARI
NAIROBI, (CAJ News) – AFRICA is preparing for a landmark moment in global athletics: the World Athletics Championships will be staged on African soil for the first time when Nairobi, Kenya, hosts the 2029 edition.

World Athletics confirmed the decision in September 2026, with competition scheduled for September at the renovated Kasarani Stadium.

The scale will be global rather than exclusively continental.

More than 2,000 athletes from around 200 member federations are expected, while Kenya’s organisers will welcome the world’s leading track-and-field competitors.

The latest World Championships programme contains 49 events: men’s and women’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, marathon, hurdles, steeplechase, race walks, relays, jumps, throws and combined events, plus the mixed 4x400m relay.

African fans will have particular reason to watch Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, already a defining figure in the 1,500m, while the country’s distance-running tradition brings names such as Hellen Obiri and Eliud Kipchoge into the wider Nairobi 2029 conversation.

David Rudisha, Kip Keino, Vivian Cheruiyot, Paul Tergat and Tegla Loroupe are also among the African icons World Athletics cited when announcing Nairobi’s selection.

However, none should yet be described as confirmed entrants: final teams and individual entries will be determined much closer to the championships.

The host nation carries formidable championship pedigree.

Kenya finished second on the medal table at Tokyo 2025, collecting seven gold medals and 11 medals overall.

Nairobi has also hosted the 2017 World U18 and 2021 World U20 Championships, strengthening its case as an experienced athletics city.

The latest available benchmark is Tokyo 2025, where individual gold, silver and bronze medallists received US$70,000, US$35,000 and US$22,000 respectively; relay teams received US$80,000, US$40,000 and US$20,000.

A US$100,000 world-record bonus was also available.

Those figures should therefore be treated as a reference, not a promise for Nairobi.

Beyond medals, Nairobi 2029 can showcase Africa’s athletics ecosystem: schools, clubs, coaches, road-racing communities and elite training centres.

It will also give younger athletes a rare chance to see continental heroes competing at home, potentially inspiring a new generation across the continent, while strengthening athletics’ profile worldwide even further.

The participant figure and prize-money amounts are sourced from World Athletics’ published championship information; Nairobi’s 2029 prize purse and final athlete entries remain to be announce

– CAJ News