Monika Pflug

{{Short description|German speed skater}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name =

| image = Monika Pflug 1974.jpg

| caption = Pflug at the 1974 World Championships

| headercolor = #d7ecff

| birth_name =

| fullname =

| nationality =

| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|1 March 1954}}

| birth_place = Munich, West Germany

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 173 cm

| weight = 64 kg

| country =

| sport = Speed skating

| club = DEC Frillensee, Inzell

| pb = 500 m – 40.53 (1988)
1000 m – 1:23.47 (1984)
1500 m – 2:11.26 (1986)
3000 m – 4:54.49 (1981)

| retired =

| olympics =

| highestranking =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country|{{FRG}}}}

{{Medal|Competition|Olympic Games}}

{{Medal|Gold|1972 Sapporo|1000 m}}

{{Medal|Competition|World Championships}}

{{Medal|Gold|1972 Eskilstuna|Sprint}}

{{Medal|Bronze|1973 Oslo|Sprint}}

{{Medal|Bronze|1974 Innsbruck|Sprint}}

{{Medal|Bronze|1982 Alkmaar|Sprint}}

}}

File:1972 stamp of Ajman Monika Pflug.jpg]]

Monika Pflug (born 1 March 1954), also known as Monika Holzner-Pflug and Monika Gawenus-Pflug, is a German former speed skater. She was born in Munich and competed for 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.