London’s bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships has ended in failure and heartbreak after it lost out to Nairobi. It marks an historic day for the Kenyan capital as it becomes the first African city to host the global championships.
World Athletics president Seb Coe also announced that Munich would be staging the 2031 event, saying it had “all the ingredients to be a spectacular world championships.”
One source in the London team told the Guardian they were “gutted” at the news, given they felt they had a strong proposition. There will inevitably also be plenty of soul searching, given that London was widely seen as the frontrunner for 2029.
With hindsight, the long battle with West Ham over whether they would be granted permission to use the stadium in September 2029 didn’t help, while the sparse crowds on the opening days of last month’s European Championships in Birmingham was not ideal.
However, Coe said that all four bids for the 2029 and 2031 championships, which also included Rome, had been outstanding. “This has not, as you can imagine, been an easy decision. The council, the executive board, and our HQ leadership team have deliberated long and hard over the decision because there were four compelling propositions.
“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic. Nairobi has presented a compelling and an emotional bid,” added Coe. “This is a fast-growing, dynamic, modern metropolis that serves as the economic, cultural, and political hub of East Africa.
“Kenya is one of the great athletics nations,” he added. “The sport is woven into the fabric of the country, and athletes such as world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri and David Rudisha, as well as two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino, multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat and multiple world half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe, have shaped the history of our sport.
“It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment.”
It is understood that Munich’s presentation to the World Athletics’ evaluation panel, which was tasked with recommending which cities should host the championships, was extraordinarily strong which made it the outstanding contender for the 2031.
“Germany has proved time and again that it is an outstanding and dependable host for major athletics events,” said Coe. “Berlin 2009 remains one of the memorable editions of the World Championships, and we have since seen tremendous support for the sport at the European Championships in Berlin and Munich.
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“The atmosphere in 2022 was exceptional and the attendance figures demonstrated the appetite that exists in the city and across Germany for major events.”
The World Athletics Championships will next take place in Beijing on 10-19 September 2027, while both Nairobi 2029 and Munich 2031 will also take place in September at the climax at the end of the season.
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