Kenya to wait a little longer to host World Championships as new host for 2027 edition announced

ATHLETICS Kenya to wait a little longer to host World Championships as new host for 2027 edition announced

Abigael Wafula 09:04 - 29.02.2024

Athletics Kenya will have to wait a bit longer to host the World Championships after World Athletics announced a new host for the 2027 edition of the event.

After losing their bid to host the 2025 World Championships to Tokyo, Japan, Kenya will have to wait a bit longer to host the global showpiece since the 2027 edition has also been granted a host.

Athletics Kenya was hopeful of hosting the 2027 edition of the event before the retirement of World Athletics president Seb Coe but the dreams have now been cut short.

After 12 years, the event returns to Beijing, China. The decision was reached during the 234th World Athletics Council Meeting on Wednesday night, following Italy's withdrawal of its bid to hold the tournament in Rome.

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On top of being granted rights to host the 2027 World Championships, China will also host next year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships, in Nanjing.

“Congratulations to Beijing on their successful bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2027, 12 years after our athletes lit up the National Stadium for the 15th edition of our global showpiece.

“With a population of more than 1.4 billion, China is one of the biggest sports markets in the world. It was the top performer for Wanda Diamond League broadcast consumption in 2023 with a cumulative audience of 368.9 million. This poses a massive opportunity to grow our sport and fan base in one of the biggest commercial markets in the world.

“With the announcement of China as our next host, our last four World Athletics Championships have now been awarded to the world’s four largest economies; the USA (Oregon), the EU (Budapest), Japan (Tokyo), and China (Beijing),” World Athletics president Coe said.

Wang Nan, World Athletics Council Member and Vice President of the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), said: “Thank you to World Athletics for the recognition and trust in China and Beijing.

“The CAA will work together with the Beijing organising committee to make every effort to prepare for the championships, ensure that the championships will be held to the highest quality standard, and strive to present a wonderful World Athletics Championships to make more contributions to the development of athletics across the world.”