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:
ChampionshipsGold medalSilver medalBronze medal
Winter Olympics1972
World Allround
World Sprint19721973
1974
1982
World Cup
European Allround
West German Allround1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1981
1982
West German Sprint1975
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1986
1987

World records

Over the course of her career, Pflug skated one world record:
EventResultDateVenue
Sprint combination183.08527 February 1972Eskilstuna

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.
EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m40.5322 February 1988Calgary39.39
1000 m1:23.4730 December 1983Inzell1:19.31
1500 m2:11.266 March 1986Inzell2:03.34
3000 m4:54.4926 February 1981Inzell4:31.00
Mini combination178.95926 February 1981Inzell171.149
Sprint combination166.57523 February 1986Karuizawa161.120