[1] Fully recovered, he returned to the European cross country meets and won again at the Cinque Mulini and Itálica races.

[3][4] He qualified for the 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won his first major medal in the men's long race.

The victory, in which Kamathi sprinted from fourth to first in the final 200 metres, broke Haile's undefeated streak of 37 races.

[7] In September he competed at the 10-mile Dam tot Damloop in the Netherlands and managed to win the race in a time of 46:05 minutes.

[11] He entered the Eindhoven Marathon in October and had a close battle with Nicholas Chelimo and Paul Biwott at the finish.