He made his Olympic debut in the 2004 season after achieving life-time bests on the track of 1:47.64 minutes for the 800 metres and 3:34.37 minutes for the 1500 m. At the 2004 Athens Olympics he reached the semi-finals and was the fastest runner not to reach the 1500 metres final. He also won his first national title that year, taking the cross country short course title. He won the European Cup First League title in the 1500 m in 2005 and 2006. His first appearance at the European Athletics Championships came in 2006 and he was a semi-finalist.