Monika Pflug
Monika Pflug, also known as Monika Holzner-Pflug and Monika Gawenus-Pflug, is a former speed skater from Germany. She was born in Munich and competed for West Germany.
Pflug's talent for speed skating was discovered in 1968 and the very next year, she already became junior national champion. In 1970, she set a national record on the 1000 m and in 1971, she became national sprint champion. The next year, 1972, was her best year; she first became national allround champion, then, one month later, she won gold on the 1000 m at the 1972 Winter Olympics of Sapporo, and two weeks after that, she became world sprint champion.
After getting married, Pflug started competing as Monika Holzner-Pflug in the 1974–75 season. The marriage was short-lived, however, and after her divorce she competed as Monika Pflug again. In 1984, Pflug married fellow speed skater Fritz Gawenus, a multiple national champion. From then on, she competed as Monika Gawenus-Pflug.
Pflug would compete in a total of five Winter Olympics between 1972 and 1988, but did not win any more Olympic medals. At the World Sprint Championships, she won three more medals, all bronze, in 1973, 1974 and 1982. She interrupted her speed-skating career for a while to become a mother. Pflug ended her speed-skating career abruptly in 1988 after a new personal and national record on the 500 m in an otherwise disappointing season. By that time, she had gathered 16 national titles and had skated a national record 65 times.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Pflug at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
| Winter Olympics | 1972 | – | – |
| World Allround | – | – | – |
| World Sprint | 1972 | – | 1973 1974 1982 |
| World Cup | – | – | – |
| European Allround | – | – | – |
| West German Allround | 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1981 1982 | – | – |
| West German Sprint | 1975 1979 1981 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 | – | – |
World records
Over the course of her career, Pflug skated one world record:| Event | Result | Date | Venue |
| Sprint combination | 183.085 | 27 February 1972 | Eskilstuna |
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the column WR lists the official world records on the dates that Pflug skated her personal records.| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
| 500 m | 40.53 | 22 February 1988 | Calgary | 39.39 |
| 1000 m | 1:23.47 | 30 December 1983 | Inzell | 1:19.31 |
| 1500 m | 2:11.26 | 6 March 1986 | Inzell | 2:03.34 |
| 3000 m | 4:54.49 | 26 February 1981 | Inzell | 4:31.00 |
| Mini combination | 178.959 | 26 February 1981 | Inzell | 171.149 |
| Sprint combination | 166.575 | 23 February 1986 | Karuizawa | 161.120 |