| Karel Tilga | |
| Birth Date: | 5 February 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Valga, Estonia |
| Country: | Estonia |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | Decathlon |
| Collegeteam: | Georgia Bulldogs |
| Pb: | 8681 (2023) |
Karel Tilga (born 5 February 1998) is an Estonian athlete who competes in the decathlon.
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. In 2021 he won for Georgia Bulldogs (men) their fifth ever NCAA individual title (second in the heptathlon) by scoring a school record 6,264 to win the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships 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 for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[4] At the Olympics he received 0 in pole vault and eventually finished 20th.[5] He did not finish the 2022 European Championships after also receiving 0 in pole vault.
He is the 2021 NCAA champion in decathlon.
Tilga finished 9th at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.
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.
| Representing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |