For the first time in its history, Africa will host the World Athletics Championships as Nairobi, Kenya, has won the rights to host the event in 2029.

The Kenyan city beat London to the rights even when UK Athletics CEO Jack Buckner said his association had “an outstanding bid which would genuinely take the sport to new levels.”

Kenya has long been a superpower in distance running but has yet to host an event of this scale. The championships will return to Germany in 2031 with Munich hosting.

Explaining the choice of Nairobi for the 2029 event, World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, said as he announced the decision: “We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council.”

“The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underlines the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships.”

Nairobi’s selection represents a landmark moment for athletics, bringing its biggest global event to Africa for the first time.

“Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” Coe said. “Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya.”

After the new Ultimate Championship brought big cash prizes instead of medals for an invitation-only field of track’s biggest names, it is back to the traditional worlds format next year in Beijing.

The World Championships run for 10 days, against three for the new Ultimate Championship, with a full slate of events. That means including competitions like the men’s triple jump, shot put, walks and marathon which were not on the schedule in Budapest last week.

“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,” Coe added.

“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.”