Monique Éwanjé-Épée Lewin (née Éwanjé-Épée, formerly Tourret; born 11 July 1967) is a retired French

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the 60 m hurdles and 100 m hurdles, and is the co-holder (as of 2016) of the French national records for both events. She is the 1990 European Champion and the 1991 World Indoor silver medallist. She also represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

Career

Éwanjé-Épée was born in

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

. She won the 1985 European Junior Championships 100 metres hurdles title in 13.10 secs. In 1988, she reached the Olympic final in Seoul, finishing seventh. In 1989, she won the 100 metres hurdles titles at both the

Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France ...

and the

Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a Blend word, portmanteau of the wor ...

. In March 1990, she won a silver medal in the 60 m hurdles at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, behind

Ludmila Narozhilenko Ludmila Viktorovna Engquist (née Leonova (). formerly Narozhilenko; born 21 April 1964) is a Russian-Swedish former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres hurdles. She competed for the Soviet Union (until 1991), Russia (from 1992) and S ...

of the Soviet Union. Éwanjé-Épée reached her peak in the 1990 outdoor season, improving her own French 100 m hurdles record to 12.56 on 29 June. This was the second fastest time in the world for 1990, with only Nataliya Grigoryeva of the Soviet Union going faster with 12.53. On 30 August, Ewanje-Épée won the European title in Split with 12.79. At the end of the 1990 season, both

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

magazine and the Athletics International Annual, ranked Ewanje-Épée the number one 100 m hurdler on their world merit rankings, ahead of Grigoryeva. In the 1991 indoor season, she won a silver medal in the 60 m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Seville, narrowly losing out to Narozhilenko by two-hundredths of a second. Outdoors, she finished fourth in the 100 m hurdles final at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, behind Narozhilenko,

Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was ...

and Grigoryeva. Éwanjé-Èpée won a silver medal in the 60 m hurdles at the 1992 European Indoor Championships in Genoa, once again behind Narozhilenko and ahead of

Yordanka Donkova Yordanka Lyubchova Donkova (; born 28 September 1961) is a Bulgarian former hurdling athlete, notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as nine medals at European indoor and outdoor championships. Donkova set fou ...

. Outdoors, she competed at her second Olympics, where she was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m hurdles. Having missed the 1993 season through pregnancy, she returned in 1994 competing under her then married name of Monique Tourret, and went on to finish fourth in the 60 m hurdles final at the 1995 World Indoor Championships. In 1996, she won a bronze medal in the 60 m hurdles at the European Indoor Championships, before going on to compete at her third Olympic Games, where she was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Éwanjé-Épée is still the holder of the French national outdoor record for the women's 100 m hurdles (12.56 sec), set on 29 June 1990 in

Villeneuve d'Ascq Villeneuve-d'Ascq (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Métropole Européenne de Lille and the largest in area (27.46 km2) ...

. This record was equalled by Cindy Billaud in 2014. Her French national indoor record for the women's 60 m hurdles (7.82 sec), set on 23 February 1991 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, also still stands. It was equalled on 7 March 2004 by Linda Ferga at the 2004 World Indoor Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Personal life

Éwanjé-Épée is married to gospel singer Frederick Lewin, with whom she has a son, Joachim (born 2006). She was previously married to the French pole vaulter Christophe Tourret, with whom she has two daughters, Marylou (1993) and Olivia (1997). Her elder sister, Maryse Éwanjé-Épée, is the French record holder in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and reached the Olympic high jump final in 1984 and 1988.

Results in international competitions

References

* * * Peter Matthews (Hrsg.): ''Athletics 1997.'' Surbiton 1997, * Ekkehard zur Megede: ''The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics.'' Berlin 1999 (published by ''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation e.V.'')

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewanje-Epee, Monique 1967 births Living people French female hurdlers Olympic athletes for France Sportspeople from Poitiers Athletes from Nouvelle-Aquitaine French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent French people of Catalan descent Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for France French Athletics Championships winners 20th-century French sportswomen