Nairobi and Africa await the possibility of the prestigious World Athletics Championships’ arrival on the continent for the first time ever with the naming of the 2029 and 2031 hosts scheduled to be announced here on Tuesday.
World Athletics has scheduled a virtual media conference at which the decision of the World Athletics Council will be announced, a departure from the past where all bid teams were on the ground when the hosts were picked.
The media conference will take place at at 11:15am local time in Budapest (12:15pm in Kenya) and will be held as a teleconference via Zoom with a maximum number of 300 participants, World Athletics’ Communication Department announced on Friday.
“The 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting will take place in the Hungarian capital on 14-15 September 2026 and will be chaired by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe,” the statement from World Athletics said
Tuesday’s media conference is open to all media representatives with those wishing to join the call by close of business on Monday to accommodate numbers.
“Please note: there is no live coverage from the Council Meeting and the meeting itself will not be transmitted in any form. The media briefing will be streamed live on the World Athletics YouTube channel. A media release summarising the discussions and decisions of the Council Meeting will be issued and published on the World Athletics website at the start of the media conference,” the statement added.
Besides Nairobi, other cities bidding for the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships editions are London, Rome and Munich.
The bid delegation from Munich is expected in Budapest.
Last month, Nairobi put up a spirited defence of its bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, anchored by a historic, ironclad personal guarantee from President Dr William Samoei Ruto, before World Athletics’ top leadership headed by its President, Lord Sebastian Coe.
We at Pura Vida Sports Africa are on the ground to bring you the latest updates from the competitive bidding process and cover announcement of the successful hosts.
