London has been snubbed as host of the World Athletics Championships with the track and field governing body opting for Nairobi over the capital.

The move will come as a major blow to UK Athletics, the Mayor of London’s office and the government, who backed the bid to bring the major meet to these shores for the first time since 2017, when West Ham United’s London Stadium enjoyed nine consecutive 60,000 sell-outs.

The bid, worth around £45m, had planned to see London stage the championships but World Athletics has instead chosen to take the meet to Nairobi, Kenya. The 2031 edition will be staged in Munich.

Jack Buckner, chief of UK Athletics, said: “We are deeply disappointed that the 2029 World Athletics Championships will not be held in London. We believed we had an outstanding bid which would genuinely take the sport to new levels.”

The next edition of the meet will be the third in a row to take place outside of athletics hotbed Europe – after Japan and China in 2025 and 2027 – but the move represents a first ever staging of the World Athletics Championships in Africa.

Rome joined London as a major European nation to miss out on the next two editions of the competition.

London false start

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council,” said World Athletics president and former MP Lord Sebastian Coe.

“With this decision today, we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.

“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships.”

Coe, instrumental in London’s staging of the 2012 Olympic Games at the London Stadium, had once been touted as a potential Conservative candidate for the upcoming London Mayoral election.

And the snub comes after Formula 1 chose Milan over the capital to stage its next season opener, after a hugely successful edition at Greenwich’s O2 Arena.

The Mayor’s office and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport have been approached for comment.