The purpose of this study was to assess practice and challenges of coaches inrnidentifying talent athletes of middle distance of Ethiopian athletics federation. Thernmethod of the study was descriptive. The subjects in this study were 70 athletes, 15rnmiddle distance coaches, 9 club administrators and 4 Ethiopian Athletics Federationrnofficers. Data were collected through questionnaires, interview and documentrnanalysis. Then the data gathered were analyzed and interpreted by using differentrnstatistical methods such as percentage. The result indicated that, the majority of thernrespondents replied that there is no talent identification method to join the club, therncoaches have less educational background, athletes choose the discipline because ofrneconomic rewards rather than the talent they have and competition is the only meansrnto identify talented athletes in most clubs. In general, from all this it can be concludedrnthat practice and challenges of coaches in identifying talent athletes in middlerndistance race is poor because of coachâ€™s qualification, clubs and federation do notrnhave integrated work and smooth relation. Even the clubs and federation do not haverntalent identification procedure to recruit athletes. Therefore, giving in service trainingrnto the coaches, preparing talent identification procedure, give chance to athletesrnduring planning, clubs fulfill all the training situation, having smooth relationship inrnbetween the concerned bodies like federation, clubs, other coaches to minimize therndegree of challenges related to the topic