At the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships she aimed for a fifth straight title and was leading until the last 100 m, at which point she fell behind Hellen Obiri and finished the race as runner-up. A haul of second-place finishes followed in the outdoor season, as she came runner-up to Cheruiyot twice and fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba. In spite of this, when it came to the 5000 m final at the 2012 London Olympics she outran both her rivals to claim her second Olympic title over the distance.