 Fully recovered, he returned to the European cross country meets and won again at the Cinque Mulini and Itálica races.He qualified for the 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won his first major medal in the men's long race.Kamathi won the bronze medal (behind Mohammed Mourhit and Serhiy Lebid) and led a Kenyan team which included Paul Kosgei and Patrick Ivuti to the team gold medal.