The World Athletics Championships may be in London in 2029. Below is a media release from Athletics Ventures detailing the final bid application to host the event.
The championships started in 1976 in Malmö, Sweden. The World Championships were created in response to the International Olympic Committee dropping the men’s 50 km racewalk from the Olympic program for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The event has been around since the 1932 Olympics.
London hosted the event in 2017, five years after hosting the Olympic Games. Europe has hosted the championships 14 times.
The latest host was Tokyo in 2025, and the next is Beijing in 2027.
Top three medal-winning nations all-time
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 211 | 139 | 119 | 469 |
| Kenya | 72 | 60 | 50 | 182 |
| Russia | 42 | 52 | 48 | 142 |
Great Britain is ranked seventh.
Media Release – Athletic Ventures (AV), the joint venture between UK Athletics, London Marathon Events, and the Great Run Company, has submitted the final documents to World Athletics for its bid to bring the World Athletics Championships to London in 2029.
Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of AV, said: “Bidding to hold the World Athletics Championships in the London Stadium, the showpiece of London 2012, was always at the centre of the UK’s Olympic legacy plans. We are very grateful to the Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and UK Sport for their fantastic support for this bid. We’re delighted that we have reached agreement with the London Stadium and West Ham United for the use of the London Stadium and our sincere thanks for their commitment in making this happen.”
Paul Foster, CEO of the Great Run Company and co-founder of AV, said: “London has submitted an outstanding bid to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships. It is the world’s number one sporting city, and its track record in delivering major athletics and running events is unsurpassed – from the London 2012 Olympic Games to the 2017 World Athletics Championships, and from the annual London Marathon, the world’s largest marathon, to the world’s largest annual one-day track meet in London Diamond League.”
Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events and co-founder of AV, said “Our bid is not just about what happens within the London Stadium. Sport has the power to bring communities together, to change lives and to inspire the next generation. The 2029 World Athletics Championships in London would drive more than £400 million in economic and social benefit in the capital and nationwide. Our innovative plans for staging parallel mass participation events for all ages and abilities across the UK as part of the bid will help to get the UK moving again, with all the mental and physical health benefits that activity brings.”
World Athletics is scheduled to announce the host city for the 2029 World Athletics Championships in September.
