At the age of 16 he was discovered by his high-school sport teacher.
2009 His debut was a 23rd place at the
Berlin Marathon in 2:23:48.
2010 After a 22nd place at the
Paris Marathon he came in 38th at the
2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona with a time of 2:36:58.
2011 On January 6, 2011, he ran the 34th Tiberius Marathon in Israel in a time of 2:21:33, coming in second of all Israelis and 18th of all runners. In February 2011, he ran a
half marathon in
Ein Gedi, Israel, in a personal best time of 1:06:19. In April 2011, he ran the
Amsterdam Marathon in a personal record time of 2:14:28, coming in 10th. In doing so, he qualified to represent
Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Asked for his reaction, he said: "it is the happiest moment in my life." His time was 7 seconds short of Israel's national record time in the marathon, which was set by
Ayale Setegne.
2012 In January 2012, he won the Israeli championships, while finishing 15th in the
Tiberias Marathon in 2:15:06. He was the only Israeli distance runner in the
2012 Summer Olympics. He described himself as "an ardent
Zionist who is extremely proud and honoured to represent Israel", and said "To make
aliyah as a child from Ethiopia and to end up representing Israel in the Olympics is the closing of a circle – a
Cinderella story." He finished 80th in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics, ==Philanthropy==