Her 2004 season was pivotal for her career: she reduced her 5000 m best significantly to 14:35.18 minutes and gained a spot on the Ethiopian Olympic team. At the 2004 Athens Olympics the nineteen-year-old came tenth in the women's 5000 m final. Despite her athletic breakthrough, that year also took its toll on her body as she acquired a long-term problem in her heel and calf which affected her running. She ran an indoor 3000 m personal best of 8:46.67 minutes at the 2005 Boston Indoor Games, but her outdoor season fizzled out as she did not qualify for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. She again proved herself indoors the following year and came fourth at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships, improving further to 8:43.38 minutes. Injuries continued to impair her consistency and the sudden death of her sister in October 2007 saw her put her career on hold. She married Berhanu Alemu, a fellow runner, and began to come back to full-time professional competition in 2009.