Wodajo Bulti

Wodajo Bulti (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres, 10000 metres and cross-country running. Wodajo was one of the most significant Ethiopian middle and long-distance runners in 80s. In his early years on the track he concentrated more on shorter distances such as 1500m because of great depth of Ethiopian talent over longer distances. He spent these years in the shadow of great Miruts Yifter, double Olympic Champion from Moscow and Mohamed Kedir, Olympic and World Cup medalist. Breakthrough came in 1982, at 25 years of age, when Wodajo finished at 3rd place over 1500m at the African championships in Cairo and followed it by the gold medal at 5000m. On 16 September in Rieti, he won at 5000m in huge personal best time of 13:07.29min recording third fastest time ever. With such achievements behind him, he was somewhat disappointed when finished at 7th place over 5000m at next year's inaugural World Championships in Helsinki. In 1984, he was strong 5000m medal contender for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, finishing second in Florence behind Said Aouita in a time of 13:10.08min (4th in 1984 World lists), but was unable to compete in L.A. due to the Ethiopian boycott. At the Olympic Boycott Games in Moscow, Bulti came third at 5000m and second at 10000m, breaking 28 minutes barieer. After these performances, Wodajo exploded in 1985 and opened season with the bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships, finishing behind Carlos Lopes and Paul Kipkoech. At the African Championships, he became champion at both, 5000 and 10000m distances, beating many great runners and relegating Kipkoech to second respectively third place. He was elected to represent Africa over both distances at the World Cup in Canberra and at day one, he won the gold over longer distance thanks to his fast finish and followed it by the bronze medal performance over 5000m. Bulti concentrated on longer distances for the remainder of his career and in 1987, he won in Helsinki over 10000m in new personal best time of 27:29.41min which placed him second at 1987 World lists, but finished a disastrous 24th at the World Championships in Rome. He set career best of 2:08:44 finishing third in Rotterdam marathon in 1988, but again, he was unable to compete at the Olympic Games in Seoul, due to Ethiopian boycott.

Achievements

Representing  Ethiopia
1982	World Cross Country Championships	Rome, Italy	12th	Long race
			1st	Team
	African Championships	Cairo, Egypt	3rd	1500 m
			1st	5000 m
1983	World Cross Country Championships	Gateshead, England	20th	Long race
			1st	Team
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	7th	5000 m
1984	World Cross Country Championships	New York City, United States	1st	Team
	Friendship Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	3rd	5000 m	13:29.08
			2nd	10,000 m	27:58.97
1985	World Cross Country Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	3rd	Long race
			1st	Team
	African Championships	Cairo, Egypt	1st	5400 m
			1st	10,000 m
	World Cup	Canberra, Australia	3rd	5000 m
			1st	10,000 m
1986	World Cross Country Championships	Neuchâtel, Switzerland	2nd	Team
1987	World Cross Country Championships	Warsaw, Poland	3rd	Team
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	24th	10,000 m

External links

• Wodajo Bulti profile at IAAF