University of Georgia Athletics
Saluri Earned His Olympic Rings
August 16, 2016 | Track & Field
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
The ink is long dry on Karl Saluri's Olympic rings tattoo. Long dry.
A lot of Olympians get a rings tattoo to commemorate and celebrate one of the greatest achievements of their lives. Saluri, the Bulldogs' All-American decathlete from Estonia, didn't wait until he made the Estonian Olympic team to get his. Quite the opposite, actually.
Five years ago, Saluri said, he decided that he was going to be in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Five years ago he had those iconic five rings tattooed on his back.
"People still think I was crazy, but I'm the guy who never gives up," Saluri said. "That was my thing, like extra motivation, basically. I can't stop before I go, and I've made it now so I think it paid off."
After a long wait — the opening ceremonies were way back on Aug. 5 — Saluri's dream of competing in the Olympics will finally come true on Wednesday. And as if being an Olympian isn't special enough, Saluri gets to compete in Rio alongside his fellow Estonian, longtime friend, roommate and former Georgia teammate, Maicel Uibo, the two-time NCAA decathlon champion.
Uibo smiled when asked about Saluri's tattoo and the boldness of getting it many years before making the team.
"He made it happen," Uibo said.
It has already been a special Olympics for Uibo, who is engaged to former Georgia sprinter Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas. Miller provided the highlight of Monday's action at Olympic Stadium when she dove across the finish line to capture the gold medal in the 400 meters.
"I love that both of us made the team and we get to watch each other," Uibo said of Miller before going to Rio. "We get to cheer each other on."
Miller was one of the favorites in the 400, while Uibo and Saluri will likely have to have stellar meets to be in medal contention. Uibo's top score in 2016, 8,315, is a little more than 200 points below the third-best in the world this year. Uibo's all-time best is 8,356, which he posted while winning the NCAA title in 2015.
The Olympic qualifying standard in the decathlon is 8,100, a mark the 6-foot-2 Uibo passed long ago. The six-time All-American and three-time SEC champion has had a trip to Rio written in ink on his calendar for ages. Not so with Saluri.
Hampered by injuries the past few years, the 5-10 Saluri has had a hard time staying on the track and staying on course with his training. A mostly healthy 2016 led to consistent training and steady improvement, and all that led to a breakthrough performance in the Bulldog Decathlon during the Spec Towns Invitational in early April.
During the two-day event, April 6-7, Saluri set personal bests in the 110-meter hurdles, pole vault, long jump and discus, and in so doing finished with a career-best 8,108 points. He won the event, yes, but much more importantly he passed the Olympic qualifying number of 8,100, booking his spot on Estonia's Olympic team.
"My goal was to go to the Olympics in 2016," Saluri said, "so the last two years when I was injured, I was like, I don't know if this is going to happen — and then [slaps his hands together] boom."
Boom, indeed. And after five years of people seeing the Olympic rings tattoo and asking if he was an Olympian, to which Saluri said he often answered, "Hopefully," the spunky Estonian could then say that he will be in Rio. The tattoo on his back weighs nothing, but that doesn't mean a significant weight wasn't lifted when he posted 8,108 in April.
"I think the fact that I got the tattoo was a big step," he said. "You don't want to have this for nothing, you know."
He went after it and he got it, much to the delight of Georgia track and field coach Petros Kyprianou, who is one of the Estonian team's assistant coaches. Kyprianou first saw Saluri's tattoo at the World Junior Championships in 2012, he said, several years before Saluri transferred to Georgia from New Orleans in 2015.
"I was like, look at this guy, who does he think he is?," Kyprianou said, laughing. "He's a guy that believes in himself. Bold or not, he accomplished it."
Estonia's Olympic contingent of 46 athletes includes 18 in track and field. It's pretty neat that two longtime friends and collegiate teammates are competing together, but that's nothing compared to Leila, Liina and Lily Luik. They are triplets that competed for Estonia in the women's marathon; they're believed to be the first set of triplets ever to compete in the Olympics.
Estonia has a rich history in the decathlon, including a 2000 Olympic gold medalist in Erki Nool. Kyprianou said he's long admired Estonia's decathletes, "and now here I am getting to coach two guys in the Olympics. For me that's a dream come true."
Competing in Rio is no doubt a dream come true for Saluri and Uibo, as well.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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