At the 1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships he placed fourth behind fellow Ethiopian Wodajo Bulti and helped successfully defend the men's team title. He also continued to compete on the track an took a victory at Moscow's Brothers Znamensky Memorial meet. He repeated his fourth-place finish at the 1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Even though his team mate Abebe Mekonnen was runner-up, the Ethiopian team was outclassed by a strong Kenyan squad, including winner John Ngugi, and was relegated to second in the team rankings.