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 5000 metres.
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 in Helsinki.
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 and Paul Kipkoech.
At the African Championships, 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 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 the continued Ethiopian boycott.