Wodajo Bulti

Who is Wodajo Bulti?

Wodajo Bulti 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, 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.