He was at full strength at the 2011 Lisbon Half Marathon: he missed his world record mark but ran the second fastest of all-time (58:30 minutes). In the outdoor track season he ran 26:51.09 minutes for the 10,000 m at the Prefontaine Classic and came close to a personal best with a win at the Barcelona Meeting with a time of 12:59.32 minutes. Making his fourth consecutive appearance in the event, he took fourth place in the men's 10,000 m at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. He ended the year with road wins at the Porto Half Marathon and the São Silvestre de Luanda, setting course records of 59:30 minutes and 27:44 minutes, respectively.