Richard Schabl

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)

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