Richard Kröll (15 March 1968 – 5 October 1996) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n alpine skier. By 1984, Kröll managed to join a junior squad that is run through the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

. From 1985 to early 1996, he obtained several achievements in alpine skiing He finished sixth in the giant slalom at the 1985 Junior World Championships and competed in four events at the 1986 Junior World Championships, bringing home the bronze medal in giant slalom and the silver medals in slalom and combined. He later competed at two World Championships, finishing 11th in the giant slalom in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and 20th in the super-G in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. Kröll made his

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

debut in March 1988, finishing 15th in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm giant slalom. Another 15th place followed in Kirchberg in Tirol in January 1989, and he competed exclusively in the giant slalom until March 1994. Kröll's breakthrough came in the 1989–90 World Cup circuit, where he won his first start of the season, in

Alta Badia Alta Badia is a ski resort in the Dolomites of northern Italy, in the upper part of the Val Badia (german: Hochabtei) in South Tyrol. It is part of the Dolomiti Superski ski area. It is included in the territories of the municipalities of Corvar ...

in January, and also won his next race in

Veysonnaz Veysonnaz is a municipality in the district of Sion in the Swiss canton of Valais. Geography Veysonnaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 44.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 26 ...

and finished third in March, again in Veysonnaz. Following a World Cup break until November 1992, he became more regular from the 1992–93 season and managed his next podium in January 1994, finishing third in

Hinterstoder Hinterstoder is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria, Austria. The village is located close on the border to the federal state Styria and 600 m above sea level. Hinterstoder is surrounded by several mountains: ...

. In January 1995 he managed his first top-10 outside of giant slalom, finishing sixth in the

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

super-G. He went on to win the Bormio super-G race in March 1995, and stabilized himself in the top 15. His last World Cup race was the March 1996 super-G in Kvitfjell, the closing weekend of the 1995–96 season, where he finished 12th. Kröll never competed in a slalom or downhill World Cup race. He died in a car accident on October 5, 1996, in Austria at age 28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroell, Richard 1968 births 1996 deaths Austrian male alpine skiers Road incident deaths in Austria 20th-century Austrian people Place of birth missing