Africa's Turn

When the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, then held behind closed doors, World Athletics President Seb Coe promised that, as a way of making it up to them, the World Championships would come to Tokyo and be held in the Olympic Stadium.  He made good on that promise, with the recently-completed World Championships taking place in Tokyo.  The next World Championships are in Beijing, which may also be a consolation prize for their pandemic-affected Olympics.  The 2029 World Championships haven't been awarded yet, but the continent where they should happen is obvious.  Africa.

The 2022 World Championships were given to Oregon without a vote because World Athletics wanted to hold the meet in the United States.  That really pissed off a lot of European cities that wanted to bid.  But it also set a precedent that if World Athletics has a specific host in mind and a reason why, they'll make sure that location gets the opportunity.  And it's beyond time for Africa to get that opportunity.

It's by no means a guarantee, though.  We'll have back-to-back World Championships outside of Europe and four out of the last five dating back to Doha 2019.  There have never been three in a row outside of Europe.  Since Europe is the hotbed of the sport, you know they'll make the case that the 2029 Worlds should be somewhere on the continent.  London, in particular, is interested in staging another World Championships after the spectacular 2017 edition.

There's a very strong case to be made for holding the 2029 World Championships in London or somewhere else in Europe.  It would be completely reasonable for World Athletics to do that, and it wouldn't really be controversial.  But in that case, the 2031 World Championships (which will be awarded at the same time as 2029) should definitely go to Africa.  They can't not award one of the two to an African city.  Because it's long past due.

Of all possible African candidates, the most obvious would seem to be Nairobi.  Kenya has already submitted its paperwork to bid for 2029, and Kenyan officials were in Tokyo, where they met with Coe.  Kenya previously put in a bid for this year's edition, but they were awarded to Tokyo not just to fulfill Coe's promise, but because of infrastructure concerns.  To address those concerns, they've made upgrades at three different stadiums in Nairobi, a clear sign that they're serious and making the necessary preparations.

Kenya also has a history of hosting World Athletics events.  The final edition of the World U18 Championships in 2017 was held in Nairobi, as were the 2021 World U20 Championships.  Those events are/were obviously a much smaller scale than the senior World Athletics Championships, but Kenya staged them both successfully (one of them during a pandemic), showing their ability and preparedness to hold the main event.

Also of note is how Kenya is one of the most successful nations at the World Championships.  In fact, Kenya is second all-time behind the United States in both gold (72) and total medals (182).  Kenya was also second on the medal table in Tokyo with seven gold and 11 total medals.

They're no longer just a distance-running power, either.  The strength of Kenya's team is still its distance runners, obviously.  But Julius Yego, the 2015 World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, finished sixth in the men's javelin and they had a team in both men's relays, as well as the mixed 4x400.  Ferdinand Omanyala made the final in the men's 100 at Worlds two years ago and won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.  So, they're becoming a very well-rounded team, especially on the men's side (historically, Kenyans haven't competed in most of the field events).

Africa's success in Tokyo wasn't limited to Kenya, either.  Botswana emerged as a major player, taking gold and bronze in the men's 400 before winning another gold in the men's 4x400 relay, with South Africa grabbing bronze in that race.  (That doesn't even include Botswana's Olympic 200-meter champion Letsile Tebogo.)  Tanzania won its first-ever World Championship in the men's marathon.  Former World Champions from Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria all came home with silver.  So, it wouldn't just be the host country's athletes on display.  A World Championships in any African country would be a home meet for all of them, too.

While Kenya is the logical choice, it isn't the only option.  Ethiopia, Kenya's big distance-running rival, has also expressed interest in hosting the 2029 or 2031 Worlds.  I'd say Kenya would have the upper hand with World Athletics.  But the fact that multiple African federations have stated their interest shows just how big a deal this is for the entire continent.  I'm not even sure they care whether it's Kenya or Ethiopia.  They just want the World Championships in Africa.

Hosting the World Athletics Championships could be a precursor to the ultimate goal, too.  Africa is the only continent to have never hosted the Olympics--something observers of worldwide sport are keenly aware of.  The Youth Olympics will take place in Dakar, Senegal next year, the first IOC-organized event ever held on African soil.  Then Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup.  The World Athletics Championships are the biggest global sporting event outside of the Olympics in terms of number of athletes and participating nations, so it would be the logical next step before the first African Olympics.  (It's worth noting here that the IOC is how headed by an African, Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry.)

Which isn't to say there wouldn't be concerns.  The U.S. didn't attend the 2021 World U20 Championships, citing safety concerns, among other issues (some of which were pandemic-related).  So, athlete safety and logistics would both need to be seriously considered and addressed in the bid materials.  Is that enough of a reason not to bring the World Championships to Africa for the first time, though?  Absolutely not! 

And, let's call a spade a spade, too.  The U.S. withdrew from the 2021 World U20s because USATF didn't really care about the meet.  The regular World Championships?  Different story!  Even if those security concerns still exist, there's no way the U.S. isn't going to the World Championships!  That's also true for every other country in the world.  So, while those concerns may be legitimate, fear for athlete safety won't and shouldn't be the reason why the World Championships don't go to Africa.

Most importantly, World Athletics knows all of this.  They know the significance of bringing the World Championships to Africa for the first time and how bad the optics will be if passed over for both 2029 and 2031.  Which is why I'm confident Nairobi will be awarded one of the two editions, with the other likely going to a city in Europe.  The order, frankly, doesn't matter.  As long as we know the World Championships are headed somewhere they've never been--Africa. It's long past time to remedy that glaring omission.