Kenya will host the World Championships for the first time when Nairobi stages the 2029 edition, dealing a blow to London's own bid, while Munich was awarded the 2031 championships as the event returns to Germany for the first time since Berlin 2009.

Nairobi has been chosen to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, beating bids from London, Rome and Munich to bring the sport's flagship event to Africa for the first time. Munich, meanwhile, was awarded the 2031 edition.

The decision, confirmed at the 242nd World Athletics Council meeting in Budapest, is a blow for London's own bid, which had been led by Athletic Ventures – a joint venture between UK Athletics, London Marathon Events and the Great Run Company – with London Stadium proposed as the venue and backing of up to £45 million in public money from the Mayor of London and the Government. The bid, which organisers said could have delivered more than £400 million in economic benefit, would have brought the World Championships back to London for the first time since a sold-out 2017 edition at the same stadium.

For Kenya, the award represents a second attempt at hosting after Nairobi narrowly missed out on the 2025 championships, which went to Tokyo, with World Athletics citing concerns at the time about the readiness of the city's venue. The capital's bid centres on the 48,000-capacity Kasarani Stadium, which is being rebuilt as part of wider preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Kenya arrives as host with an extensive recent track record of staging World Athletics events. The country hosted the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa in 2007 – the first time it had staged the event – before Nairobi went on to hold the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021. Nairobi's Kip Keino Classic has also been a fixture on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold circuit since it launched in 2020.

The country's status as one of the great athletics nations was central to World Athletics president Sebastian Coe's case for the decision. "Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. 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," he said.

Kenya finished second on the medal table at last year's World Championships in Tokyo, winning seven golds and 11 medals in total, and World Athletics fan research found 68% of Kenyans rate their interest in athletics as high, against a global average of 39%.

However, the award comes with question marks hanging over Kenyan athletics. Kenya has endured a prolonged doping crisis, with more than 100 Kenyan athletes currently serving suspensions on the Athletics Integrity Unit's global list of ineligible persons, alongside a separate, ongoing World Athletics investigation into alleged age falsification involving more than 30 Kenyan athletes. The European Union has also threatened to blacklist Kenya over corruption and money laundering concerns, adding to broader doubts about the country's readiness to fund and deliver an event of this scale.

What's more, the altitude will be a major factor in endurance races. The Kasarani Stadium sits at 1612 metres (5289 feet) above sea level – only slightly less than popular altitude training centres like Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees.

Coe acknowledged the strength of competition for both editions. "We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council," he said. "Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic... 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."

Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of Athletic Ventures, said: “We are deeply disappointed that the 2029 World Athletics Championships will not be held in London. We believed we had an outstanding bid which would genuinely take the sport to new levels.

“We would like to thank the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and UK Sport for their fantastic support for our bid. Our thanks also to the London Stadium, West Ham United and our many stakeholders for their commitment and hard work to put the bid together.

“The UK is an incredible host for major sports events and the British public loves athletics. Athletic Ventures has the ambition to bring those events here and, although today’s announcement hasn’t gone our way, we will review and regroup. We know the world’s athletes love competing here and we’ll continue to explore further opportunities to make that happen. Our congratulations go to Nairobi and we wish the organising committee all the best for a great event in 2029.”

Munich's successful bid for 2031 will see the championships staged at the city's Olympic Stadium, which hosted a hugely popular European Championships in 2022, drawing around 267,000 spectators across the athletics programme. Germany finished third at this year's European Championships in Birmingham and won five medals, including one gold, at last year's World Championships in Tokyo.

The World Athletics Championships will next be held in Beijing from September 10-19, 2027, with both Nairobi 2029 and Munich 2031 also scheduled for September, in line with World Athletics' aim of building the global calendar towards a season-ending global championship.