Yeman Crippa, Paris triumph is historic: "A new page"

Yeman Crippa came out on top in the Paris Marathon, becoming the first Italian athlete to do so. The last time a European had won the race was in 2002, with the success of Frenchman Benoit Zwierzchiewski; in addition, the last Italian to win a marathon at the international level (excluding continental championships and Olympics) was Stefano Baldini in 2001. The Fiamme Oro cross-country runner also exceeded all predictions and managed to cross the finish line in 2h05’18”, ahead of the African favorites: Ethiopian Bayelign Teshager (2h05’23”), Kenyan Sila Kiptoo (2h05’28”) and Djibouti champion Mohamed Ismail (2h05’38”).

Yeman Crippa not only won the competition with 60,000 athletes at the start, but also achieved the second all-time marathon time: “My career as a marathon runner starts now, I finally found the right path.” In addition to expressing his emotions, he also ‘relived’ the race: “It was incredible, around the 33rd kilometer I knew it was going to be my day, and when at the 39th I saw that the opponents were struggling, I decided to attack.”

Yeman Crippa also retraced his 2024 Olympic journey, in which he had finished in 2h10:36 in the marathon: “I redeemed myself from 25th place in Paris at the Olympic Games. For Crippa, this result is worth much more than a ‘simple’ victory: “It opens a whole new page, I have discovered in earnest that I have a feeling for the marathon.”

Today’s marathon in France was the seventh marathon in his career for Yeman Crippa, who started on this specialty three years ago in Milan after a great career on the track. In fact, it was on the tartan that he won the 10,000-meter European title in Munich in 2022.

But that’s not all there is to it: the Fiamme Oro athlete also holds the overall Italian records for the 5,000 with a 13’14 and the 10,000 with a 27’08. And after the great, historic exploit in the Paris Marathon, the future now seems all on Yeman Crippa’s side.