 Tilga in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 February 1998 Valga, Estonia |
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Estonia |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Decathlon |
| College team | Georgia Bulldogs |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best | 8681 (2023) |
Karel Tilga (born 5 February 1998) is an Estonian multi-event athlete who competes in the decathlon and indoors heptathlon. He was the NCAA championships both indoors and outdoors in 2021. He competed at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Tilga was born in Valga [1] and grew up in Puka until the eight grade, when the family moved to Tartu. [2] He attended school at Tartu Kristjan Jaak Petersoni Gymnasium before enrolling at the University of Georgia, graduating in 2022. [1]
Competing for Georgia Bulldogs (men), he won their fifth ever NCAA individual title (second in the heptathlon) by scoring a school record 6,264 to win the heptathlon at the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in March 2021, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. with the No. 2 all-time collegiate performance. [3] He scored a near 400 point-improvement on his decathlon lifetime best at the Specs Town Invitational in Athens, Georgia in April 2021 besting Garrett Scantling by just 8 points. Tilga's score reached the Olympic qualifying standard of 8350 points. [4] He then won the 2021 Outdoor NCAA Championships in the decathlon in Eugene, Oregon. [5] At the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in 2021, he received 0 in pole vault and eventually finished 20th overall. [6] He did not finish the 2022 European Championships after also receiving 0 in pole vault.
Tilga finished fourth in the decathlon at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. [7] Tilga was selected as the best male athlete of April 2021 of the European Athletics Association (EAA) and the best male athlete of Estonia in 2023. [1]
He competed in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the decathlon, finishing in eleventh place overall. [8]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Estonia | |||||
| 2017 | European U20 Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 3rd | Decathlon U20 | 8002 pts |
| 2018 | European Championships | Berlin, Germany | – | Decathlon | DNF |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 20th | Decathlon | 7018 pts |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 9th | Heptathlon | 5964 pts |
| European Championships | Munich, Germany | – | Decathlon | DNF | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 4th | Decathlon | 8681 pts |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 11th | Decathlon | 8377 pts |
