Yomif Kejelcha made his international debut at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, winning gold in the boys' 3000 metres with a time of 7:53.56. At the Ostrava Golden Spike elite meeting in May 2014 he placed second over 3000 metres in 7:36.28, losing only to Kenya's Caleb Ndiku; he defeated 2008 Olympic medallist Nick Willis and former World Champion Bernard Lagat. Yomif won the 5000 metres at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, running 13:25.19; he also won gold, in the 3000 metres, at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing later that summer. He finished 2014 as the world youth leader at both 3000 and 5000 metres, and world junior leader at 3000 metres. Yomif opened his 2015 season at the African Junior Championships in Addis Ababa, winning the 5000 metres in 14:31.03. He made his IAAF Diamond League debut in Doha, placing fifth in the 3000 m; he then won a non-Diamond Race 5000 m race at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, improving his personal best to 13:10.54 and outkicking Edwin Soi and Galen Rupp. Yomif scored his first Diamond League victory the following week at the Golden Gala in Rome, winning in a world-leading 12:58.39 and breaking 13 minutes for the first time. On 11 September 2015 Kejelcha competed in the Diamond League event in Brussels and set a new personal best of 12:53.98 in the 5,000-meter event. He started 2016 by winning the gold in the 3000 metres at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland. On 27 August 2016, Kejelcha won the 3000m at the 2016 Diamond League Paris meet in a new U20 world record of 7:28.19. At the European AthleticsOutdoor Classic Permit Meeting in Sweden on 18 August 2018, Kejelcha won the 3000m in 7:28.00. On 31 August 2018, he placed 3rd at the Diamond League Final. He ran 12:46.43, making him the 7th fastest 5000m runner ever. Kejelcha came within a hundredth of a second of Hicham El Guerrouj's indoor mile record on 9 February 2019 at the Millrose Games. Kejelcha ran an Ethiopian national record and a Millrose meet record 3:48.46, making him second all-time in the indoor mile. On 3 March 2019, Kejelcha broke the Indoor Mile World Record with a time of 3:47.01 an improvement over his previous time of 3:48.46. He came short of the 1500m Indoor World Record with a 3:31.25. He was paced by Erik Sowinski and Harun Abda. He is now the 9th fastest man Indoors or Outdoors tucked right behind Alan Webb’s American Record.
