His breakthrough year came in 2004: he took the individual bronze medal and team gold in the short race at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and then went on to take the 5000 m title at the 2004 African Championships in Athletics.
Tarefe won the Carlsbad 5000 in 2008, beating Mo Farah to the finish line.
[4] He finished in third place at the BIG 25 race (also in Berlin) in May that year, running a time of 1:13:16.
[6] He was also sixth at the Seoul International Marathon in March 2011, but was much slower (2:15:15) in that race.
[7] This biographical article relating to Ethiopian athletics is a stub.