He competed at the Prefontaine Classic for the first time, and set a two miles best of 8:19.34, although he was some distance behind winner Craig Mottram. The 2007 All-Africa Games represented a double landmark victory for Zersenay: he became the first Eritrean medallist in the competition's history, and won his first ever gold medal on the track, sealing victory in the 10,000 m final with a Games record time of 27:00.30. The following month he competed at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and he edged closer to a podium finish – he led the 10,000 m race up to the 8 km mark, setting a fast pace, but ultimately ended up in fourth position. Preparing for the road championships that year, he ran the 10-mile Dam tot Damloop race in September and won in 45:51 (the world's fastest that season), finishing some distance ahead of runners up Bernard Kipyego and James Rotich. Zersenay emphasised his position as one of the world's most dominant half marathon runners with a second victory at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships in Udine, Italy. Although he was close to world record pace at the 15 km point, he slowed behind the leading pack of Makau Musyoki, Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot and Deriba Merga. In the final kilometre, he burst away to take the lead and the gold medal, setting a national and championship record time of 58:59 in the process. Following these achievements, a medical team did a study of his running economy and found him to be one of the most efficient runners ever to be tested. Bekele was keen to regain his cross country title from Zersenay and the 2008 cross country season was a competitive one. At the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country race, Zersenay was pipped by the Ethiopian at the line, finishing just one second behind. The following month, Zersenay beat Eliud Kipchoge to win the Cinque Mulini race in the buildup to the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. On the day of the Championship race in Edinburgh, Scotland, Zersenay took the lead early on and set a strong pace at the mid-race point. However, near the finish Bekele and Kenyan Leonard Komon surged ahead to leave Zersenay as the bronze medallist. A win at the World 10K Bangalore, where he beat Moses Kipsiro in 27:51, was the highlight of a low-key build up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.