A third-place finish at the 2011 Great Edinburgh Cross Country helped the European team to the title. He took the top honours at the Cinque Mulini in February – a performance which lifted his club Bikila Toledo to third for that year's European Cross Country Club Championships, which was held in conjunction with the race. He carried the hopes of the host nation at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbría and was the first European to finish, taking 16th place. He won the 2011 Cursa Bombers, although it was a Catalan-only race and his winning time was relatively slow. He missed the track season due to injury and returned in November, coming seventh at the Cross de Atapuerca then second at the Soria race. At the 2011 European Cross Country Championships he was again the runner-up, this time to Atelaw Yeshetela. He was the top European at the Cross de Venta de Baños later that month, coming second to Kenya's Philemon Kimeli. A third place at the San Silvestre Vallecana closed his 2011 season.