Kenya’s dream of hosting the senior World Athletics Championships has entered an exciting new chapter, with Athletics Kenya (AK) confirming the country beat the deadline to place its bid for the 2029 edition of the global showpiece.
This bold step underscores the country’s long-standing ambition to bring the world’s biggest track and field event to Africa for the very first time, a dream that has been decades in the making.
With its rich athletics heritage and passionate fan base, Kenya believes it is time for the continent to take its rightful place on the global athletics stage. At the moment, Africa has a Diamond League meet in Rabat, as well as Continental Gold Tour meets in Botswana and Kenya.
But, the East Africa middle and long distance powerhouse Kenya believes it is time for it, and Africa, to host the Senior championship.
Having successfully hosted the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021, both to global acclaim, Kenya is banking on those experiences as proof of its ability to stage major international competitions.
The seamless organization, electrifying atmosphere at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani, and overwhelming support from local fans set new standards for age-group competitions, earning plaudits from World Athletics and visiting nations alike.
These milestones have laid the foundation for the country’s confidence in taking on a senior-level event.
The country’s track record in hosting continental and regional events has also fueled optimism. Just recently, Kenya co-hosted the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN), a massive logistical and infrastructural success that further cemented its capacity to deliver high-profile global events.
From improved stadium facilities to upgraded hospitality and transport systems, the country has made visible strides in building an environment capable of accommodating large-scale international competitions.
Athletics Kenya president Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Jackson Tuwei believes this is the opportune moment for Kenya and Africa to step forward.
Under his leadership, also in the capacity of World Athletics vice president, AK has engaged closely with the world governing body in recent years, consistently advocating for the continent’s inclusion as a host of the senior World Championships.
The bid, he says, represents not only a national aspiration but a continental vision to celebrate Africa’s central role in the sport’s global success story.
In this exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, Tuwei speaks about Kenya’s journey toward hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the lessons learned from past events, and the broader dream of bringing the world to Nairobi.
He opens up on the motivation behind the bid, the partnerships driving it, and the legacy such a monumental event would leave for Kenyan and African athletics as a whole. Kenya had presented a bid to host this year’s senior event, that ultimately went to Tokyo, unsuccessfuly. But now, Tuwei believes it is Kenya’s time.
- It has been in the works for many years, and now the bid has been place. How far are we in the dream to bring the world to Kenya?
- We have gunned off the process and started turning the wheels towards hosting the World Athletics Championships. We managed to place our bid well within the deadline, and that is one step passed. The journey towards being announced as host is not easy; it is a long process. There are about five more steps that we will need to clear before we are handed the hosting rights.
The government already signed all the necessary documents and we are good to go after World Athletics acknowledged our bid.
The next step waiting for us now is showing the facilities we have and not just the competition venue, but transport infrastructure, hospitals, hospitality, visa processes and so forth. In most of these areas, as a country we are well prepared.
But of course, the major area is the competition and training facilities because this is a major competition bringing in over 200 member associations.
- In terms of competition facilities, which are we looking at?
- All competition facilities have to be graded and approved as first class and in this case, we are looking at Kasarani. We know that it underwent renovations recently because of CHAN, but through the Ministry of Sports, we have requested representatives from World Athletics to come and inspect the stadium as early as now so that we can identify areas that we need to correct or improve, before the final inspectors come to approve the facility. We have had conversations with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that we raise Kasarani to the required standards.
- Have we already started preparations on our end to try and ensure we put ourselves at a good place to be considered?
- Yes. Apart from us looking at the Kasarani Stadium already, we have formed a technical committee to look at several issues. This Committee was in Tokyo for the last World Championships on an ovbserver mission just to see how things are done, what levels we should reach and they are going to give us a report on everything. They will take us through all necessary requirements and they know the amount of work needed for us to host this competition.
- Kenya has hosted the World Under-18 and Under-20 competitions successfully. Does this give us an edge when it comes to the final decision?
- Absolutely. We successfully hosted these two competitions and despite the senior event now being a different level, we already showed what we can do. Those who were here saw what we did and they saw our facilities. They also saw the Kenyan fans and how enthusiastic they were for the competition and I think that gives us the edge for recognition. They saw the work we put in with the time available and how the whole country was receptive and I am very optimistic this can give us an edge. The other important thing that this competition gave us was that our technical officials were trained to international levels and that has assisted us in terms of grading.
- Kenya also recently successfully hosted the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), a huge football tournament. Do you think this will also go a long way in convincing World Athletics?
- Yes it will. The whole world saw how the country managed to host this huge Continental showpiece and just how much sports brings enthusiasm to the people. I honestly believe that this will be a boost for us. We have consistently shown that we can host big competitions and I believe given a chance, we can host a historic World Athletics Championship. Not just CHAN, but we have hosted other big sporting events and this will give us an edge.
- What are some of the benefits that await us should World Athletics give us that chance?
- I believe we will hugely boost our athletics. We have constantly performed well on track, but hosting will give us an opportunity to try and explore more especially with field events. I believe there is so much talent in Kenya and the fact that we are hosting a competition will be key in helping us unearth such talents.
Tourism is also another massive benefit if we host. Most of the people who will come and watch, and even those who will compete often come with their families and once competition is over or there are rest days, they will want to visit several tourism sites and this is good for the image of the country.
Also the amount of exposure the country will get to the international world is huge.
- Finally, how massive is it for Kenya to become the first African country to host a senior World Athletics championship?
- It will be very huge. Kenya has dominated track for a long time, and us being the first African team to host the Seniors will underline our status as a respectable country in global sports.
