His international debut shortly followed and he was Ethiopia's best performer at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, taking the individual bronze medal in a personal best of 59:21 minutes to lead the Ethiopian men to third in the team competition. Following his first major medals, he ran on the circuit and took third at the Giro Media Blenio in Switzerland and the Luanda Half Marathon in Angola. He won the 2014 Delhi Half Marathon in New Delhi with his personal best of 59:06.