But the real fame came, when Wolde won the bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the World Indoor Championships at Maebashi in 1999 and then finished eighth in the 5000 m at the World Championships in Seville later that year. At the World Cross-Country Championships, Wolde finished fourth in the senior men's short course (4 km) at Belfast in 1999 and fifteenth at the same distance in Vilamoura, Portugal in 2000.