Wodajo Bulti (born 11 March 1957) is a retired

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n long-distance runner who specialized in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

10000 metres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

Career

Wodajo was one of the most significant Ethiopian middle and long-distance runners in 1980s. In his early years on the track he concentrated more on shorter distances such as

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

because of great depth of Ethiopian talent over longer distances. He spent these years in the shadow of great

Miruts Yifter Miruts Yifter (, affectionately known as "Yifter the Shifter", 15 May 1944 – 22 December 2016) was an Ethiopian long-distance runner and winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His date of birth is often given as 15 May 1944, t ...

, double Olympic Champion from Moscow and

Mohamed Kedir Mohamed Kedir (Amharic: ሞሐመድ ከድር; born September 18, 1954) is a former long-distance runner from Ethiopia, who won the bronze medal in men's 10,000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In the 5000 metres final, Kedir still led with ...

, Olympic and World Cup medalist. His breakthrough came in 1982, at 25 years of age, when Wodajo finished at third place over 1500 m at the 1982 African Championships in Athletics in Cairo and followed it by the gold medal at

. On 16 September in Rieti, he won at 5000 m in huge personal best time of 13:07.29 minutes, recording third fastest time ever. With such achievements behind him, he was somewhat disappointed when finished at seventh place over 5000 m at next year's inaugural

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall med ...

in Helsinki. In 1984, he was strong 5000 m medal contender for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, finishing second in Florence behind Said Aouita in a time of 13:10.08 minutes (fourth in the yearly rankings), but was unable to compete in the Olympics due to the Ethiopian boycott. At the

Friendship Games The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (russian: Дружба-84, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other socialist states which boycotted the 1984 Su ...

in Moscow, Bulti came third at 5000 m and second at

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

, breaking the 28 minute barrier. After these performances, Wodajo exploded in 1985 and opened season with the bronze medal at the 1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing behind

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner. He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olympic ...

and

Paul Kipkoech Paul Kipkoech (January 6, 1963 – March 16, 1995) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres and cross-country running. He became world champion over 10,000 m in 1987. Kipkoech was born in Kapsabet. In 1986 he ran t ...

. At the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

, he became champion at both, 5000 m and 10,000 m 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 5000 m. Bulti concentrated on longer distances for the remainder of his career and in 1987, he won in Helsinki over 10,000 m in new personal best time of 27:29.41 minutes 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 The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

in 1988, but again, he was unable to compete at the Olympic Games in Seoul, due to the continued Ethiopian boycott.

Achievements

External links

* 1957 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia Ethiopian male cross country runners Friendship Games medalists in athletics 20th-century Ethiopian people {{Ethiopia-athletics-bio-stub