Yeman Crippa enters the New York City Marathon aiming for a top-six finish on Sunday, following a career path that carried him from a wartime orphanage in Ethiopia to the summit of European distance running. Elite sports reporting details how the 30-year-old Italian record holder prepares for his debut in the marathon, balancing high-altitude training blocks in Kenya with a deeply personal journey of survival and adoption.
From Dessie to Trento via Milanese Adoption
Born in Dessie, Ethiopia, in 1997, Crippa lost both parents during the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 2001, a Milanese couple, Roberto and Luisa Crippa, traveled to Addis Ababa intending to adopt a child from an orphanage. Instead, they returned to Trento with Yemaneberhan—whose name means “right hand of God” in Aramaic—along with his five siblings and three cousins, securing a collective fresh start in a wooden and stone house nestled 1,200 meters high in the Italian Alps.
Adjusting to life in Trentino initially turned the young Crippa toward football rather than running. “At first, I didn’t like running much, I wanted to be a footballer,” Crippa recalled. His athletic potential emerged after he won a school cross-country race, prompting recruitment by the local club Atlético Valchiese. That discovery catalyzed a career that yielded 10 Italian national records spanning distances from 3,000 meters to the marathon.
Championship Glory on Track and Pavement
Running under the Italian flag and sponsored by athletic brand ON, Crippa established himself among the best fondistas in the world. He captured the 10,000-meter gold medal at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Berlin. Two years later, he added a half marathon title in Rome.
Yeman Crippa vince il Giro al Sas: seconda perla in casa, ora la maratona di New York. E racconta: “Una fitta ai Mondiali…” – https://t.co/4MofgyQKzu
The transition to the full marathon brought immediate tests. Tras superar problemas estomacales y dos abandonos, junto con un resultado no muy bueno en Valencia, Crippa conquistó el maratón de París en abril con un tiempo de 2:05.18. “My story runs with me,” Crippa told. “My life changed drastically. After becoming an orphan, I was adopted and taken to Italy, where a new stage began.”
Tactical Approach for the New York Streets
Rather than chasing pacemakers or fast splits, Crippa approaches Sunday’s New York race through a tactical lens. The lack of pacemakers alters the dynamic of the marathon. “It’s not a race designed to look for fast times, it’s not a conventional marathon in that sense,” Crippa explained. “Everyone starts together and stays together past the halfway mark, and then the pressure begins. I prefer to compete like that, face-to-face.”
His primary target in New York is positioning over the clock. “My goal is to finish among the top five or six. If everything goes perfectly that day, I’ll try to get on the podium.”
Altitude Bases and the Road to Los Angeles
While Italian infrastructure shaped his athletic career, East Africa remains central to Crippa’s training regimen. He frequently travels to Iten, Kenya, completing high-altitude training blocks above 2,000 meters. “When I pass through Ethiopia, even if it’s just a layover, I feel in my heart that it is my home,” Crippa told. “However, in Kenya I have found a second home. I have everything I need to train there.”
Looking past New York, Crippa has targeted the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, aiming to redeem his past in Tokyo. Beyond that sits the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. While acknowledging the hazaña of other runners in London, Crippa maintains a progressive view of his limits: “In my case, now is not the time to think about running under two hours, since my personal best is 2:05. My goal is to improve to 2:04 or 2:03.”
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