Richard Schabl (born 1959) is a German former freestyle skier, specializing in acroski. He won the gold medal at the first FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in 1986 and the FIS Junior World Championship 1980 in Chamonix and ended his competitive sports career right after when he became the World Champion at the age of 26. Schabl achieved a total of 12 victories in the World Cup and won the ski ballet Crystal Globe in 1983 and 1984 seasons. He invented the one-handed pole flip and owns a unique world record 22 flips in 60 seconds on a ski deck (a revolving carpet). He is also a two-time European Champion in ski ballet, winning the title in 1981 and 1984.
Upon his retirement, Schabl began working on ski films as a producer and actor, and later worked as a photographer for various magazines, including Playboy and Maxim. His feature film project about the Kaprun disaster, Smoke in the Tunnel, has been in production for more than 10 years and scheduled to be released on the 25th anniversary of the catastrophe, 11 November 2025.
Freestyle skiing results World Championships 1 medal – (1 gold) YearAge Ski ballet 1986 Tignes 26 1
World Cup Season titles 2 titles – (2 ski ballet) SeasonDiscipline1983 Ski ballet1984 Ski ballet
Season standings SeasonAge Overall Ski ballet 1980 20 48 19 1981 21 18 3 1982 22 26 4 1983 23 16 1 1984 24 13 1 1984–85 25 11 2 1985–86 26 28 8
Race podiums 12 victories 28 podiums No. Season Date Location Discipline Place1 198114 February 1981 Oberjoch, West Germany Ski ballet 3rd2 15 March 1981 Poconos, USA Ski ballet 3rd3 21 March 1981 Calgary, Canada Ski ballet 3rd4 19823 January 1982 Snoqualmie, USA Ski ballet 2nd5 9 January 1982 Blackcomb, Canada Ski ballet 1st6 19833 January 1983 Mariazell, Austria Ski ballet 1st7 20 January 1983 Tignes, FranceSki ballet 1st8 29 January 1983 Oberjoch, West Germany Ski ballet 2nd9 2 February 1983 Livigno, Italy Ski ballet 1st10 12 February 1983 Ravascletto, Italy Ski ballet 1st11 11 March 1983 Squaw Valley, USA Ski ballet 2nd12 17 March 1983 Angel Fire, USA Ski ballet 2nd13 198414 January 1984 Stoneham, Canada Ski ballet 2nd14 20 January 1984 Breckenridge, USASki ballet 1st15 3 February 1984 Courchevel, France Ski ballet 2nd16 25 February 1984 Göstling, Austria Ski ballet 2nd17 28 February 1984 Ravascletto, Italy Ski ballet 2nd18 3 March 1984 Oberjoch, West Germany Ski ballet 1st19 20 March 1984 Sälen, Sweden Ski ballet 1st20 27 March 1984 Tignes, France Ski ballet 1st21 1984–8511 December 1984 Mont Gabriel, Canada Ski ballet 2nd22 12 January 1985 Lake Placid, USA Ski ballet 2nd23 19 January 1985 Breckenridge, USA Ski ballet 2nd24 1 February 1985 La Sauze, France Ski ballet 1st25 20 February 1985 Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia Ski ballet 2nd26 9 March 1985 Mariazell, Austria Ski ballet 1st27 17 March 1985 La Clusaz, France Ski ballet 2nd28 1985–8617 December 1985 Zermatt, Switzerland Ski ballet 1st
References
External links Official website