University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Karel Tilga
May 12, 2021 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
At the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships back in March, Karel Tilga edged his Georgia teammate Kyle Garland to win the heptathlon national championship. Garland was in first place going into the final event, the 1,000-meter run, but Tilga was able to finish more than 8 seconds ahead and take the title.
Tilga, a 6-foot-7 junior from Estonia, scored 6,264 points, the second-best score in collegiate history, while Garland's 6,200 was fourth-best.
At the Spec Towns Invitational last month, Tilga, in his first completed collegiate decathlon in two years, won the event with a score of 8,484. That set a school record — no small thing at Georgia given its incredible decathlon history — and was the
second-highest score in collegiate history.
Tilga's score also surpassed the Olympic standard of 8,350, which means he has an excellent shot at being one of the three Estonians to compete in the decathlon at the Tokyo Games this summer. The other two could also be Bulldogs: teammate Johannes Erm and former Georgia star Maicel Uibo. Erm is the defending NCAA champion in the decathlon, winning it in 2019, and Uibo, who competed in the 2016 Olympics along with fellow Estonian and former Bulldog Karl Saluri, won back-to-back titles in 2014-15.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, before the Georgia men and women left for this weekend's SEC Outdoor Championships at Texas A&M, Tilga talked about the Olympics, life in his small hometown of Puka (population about 600), and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What is it like being an international student in the U.S., a long way from home, during these uncertain times?
Tilga: I'd say, like everything else they've done a good job here of making sure we don't really notice the effect of the pandemic. We still train like we normally do, we just have to do extra testing and stuff like that. And with everything else, it's pretty much the same. The only thing that's different is that traveling from far away, you have to double-check who wants tests, who wants the vaccine, and stuff like that.
Frierson: It's an Olympic year and I'm sure that's on your mind. How much do you think about it?
Tilga: [Laughs] That's pretty much all I think about, if I'm being honest with you. The NCAA, that's cool to win and stuff, but when it comes down to it, at the end of your career you look back at the Olympic Games. That's pretty much all that's on my mind right now.
Frierson: What was it like watching Karl and Maicel compete in Rio in 2016?
Tilga: It was cool. That's when I told myself, that's where I want to be in four years. And it happened in five because of the pandemic, but it happened — it hasn't happened yet but it's more than likely going to happen.
Frierson: And it feels like it could be three Georgia guys on the Estonia team and maybe three Georgia guys on the U.S. team.
Tilga: That would be really cool. There's a very good chance that might happen.
Frierson: That would be pretty incredible if it happened.
Tilga: Multis U. I would just feel back for (Georgia head coach Petros Kyprianou) at the Olympics — he's going to have to do a lot of coaching. I heard that the heptathlon and the decathlon will be going on at the same time. He's going to be running around more than we will.
Frierson: Tell me about home. When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Tilga: Estonia itself is very small, with very few people, and I'm from a small part of Estonia, which means barely any people. When I think of home, it's just peaceful. At night you won't hear a beep, a car, nothing, because there's nothing around.
Frierson: Growing up in such a small place, what did you do with your free time? How did you entertain yourself?
Tilga: I was always a hyperactive kid. We had four or five different practices you could go to in my town, and I went to all of them. I trained more hours in a week when I was 12 than I do now. I probably trained around 30 hours a week just because I like moving around — I could never sit still.
Frierson: How hard was it getting the coaching you needed?
Tilga: When I was still in my hometown, I didn't really focus on track, I was still a basketball player, and then I moved into the city (Tartu), which is the second-biggest city in Estonia — it's an Athens-sized city — and that's when I moved away from basketball and got into track. I found a really good coach and he led me down this path.
Frierson: I've talked to a lot of different international student-athletes and one thing a lot of them have said is that they had a hard time adjusting to the food in the U.S. because there's more salt and sugar and things like that. Was that hard for you, as well?
Tilga: It definitely takes some adjusting to. Serving sizes are smaller because everything has so much more fat and sugar and stuff. I just tried to read about what I'm eating more than I do in Estonia because in Estonia it's very hard to overeat because most things are healthier.
Frierson: What is your favorite dish back home? Is there one thing you always look forward to eating?
Tilga: I don't know if I have one, just something my mom has made, probably.
Frierson: How are you in the kitchen?
Tilga: I can do the very basics [laughs]. It maybe doesn't taste the best, but I know it has good stuff in it, like vegetables, rice, chicken, all that. That's what I can make.
Frierson: What was the feeling like when you won the heptathlon title? You had to edge Kyle at the end to do, so were you celebrating for yourself but also feeling a little bad for Kyle?
Tilga: I think it was a good feeling, and I think Kyle didn't feel too bad either because I know for sure that I wouldn't have scored what I did if he wasn't pushing me, and he wouldn't have scored that if I wasn't pushing him.
I think we were both happy at the end of the day, and I think Kyle realizes that he's still so young and his time is definitely coming. I don't think I can hold him off for long anymore. He's probably going to overtake me soon.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
At the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships back in March, Karel Tilga edged his Georgia teammate Kyle Garland to win the heptathlon national championship. Garland was in first place going into the final event, the 1,000-meter run, but Tilga was able to finish more than 8 seconds ahead and take the title.
Tilga, a 6-foot-7 junior from Estonia, scored 6,264 points, the second-best score in collegiate history, while Garland's 6,200 was fourth-best.
At the Spec Towns Invitational last month, Tilga, in his first completed collegiate decathlon in two years, won the event with a score of 8,484. That set a school record — no small thing at Georgia given its incredible decathlon history — and was the
second-highest score in collegiate history.
Tilga's score also surpassed the Olympic standard of 8,350, which means he has an excellent shot at being one of the three Estonians to compete in the decathlon at the Tokyo Games this summer. The other two could also be Bulldogs: teammate Johannes Erm and former Georgia star Maicel Uibo. Erm is the defending NCAA champion in the decathlon, winning it in 2019, and Uibo, who competed in the 2016 Olympics along with fellow Estonian and former Bulldog Karl Saluri, won back-to-back titles in 2014-15.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, before the Georgia men and women left for this weekend's SEC Outdoor Championships at Texas A&M, Tilga talked about the Olympics, life in his small hometown of Puka (population about 600), and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What is it like being an international student in the U.S., a long way from home, during these uncertain times?
Tilga: I'd say, like everything else they've done a good job here of making sure we don't really notice the effect of the pandemic. We still train like we normally do, we just have to do extra testing and stuff like that. And with everything else, it's pretty much the same. The only thing that's different is that traveling from far away, you have to double-check who wants tests, who wants the vaccine, and stuff like that.
Frierson: It's an Olympic year and I'm sure that's on your mind. How much do you think about it?
Tilga: [Laughs] That's pretty much all I think about, if I'm being honest with you. The NCAA, that's cool to win and stuff, but when it comes down to it, at the end of your career you look back at the Olympic Games. That's pretty much all that's on my mind right now.
Frierson: What was it like watching Karl and Maicel compete in Rio in 2016?
Tilga: It was cool. That's when I told myself, that's where I want to be in four years. And it happened in five because of the pandemic, but it happened — it hasn't happened yet but it's more than likely going to happen.
Frierson: And it feels like it could be three Georgia guys on the Estonia team and maybe three Georgia guys on the U.S. team.
Tilga: That would be really cool. There's a very good chance that might happen.
Frierson: That would be pretty incredible if it happened.
Tilga: Multis U. I would just feel back for (Georgia head coach Petros Kyprianou) at the Olympics — he's going to have to do a lot of coaching. I heard that the heptathlon and the decathlon will be going on at the same time. He's going to be running around more than we will.
Frierson: Tell me about home. When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Tilga: Estonia itself is very small, with very few people, and I'm from a small part of Estonia, which means barely any people. When I think of home, it's just peaceful. At night you won't hear a beep, a car, nothing, because there's nothing around.
Frierson: Growing up in such a small place, what did you do with your free time? How did you entertain yourself?
Tilga: I was always a hyperactive kid. We had four or five different practices you could go to in my town, and I went to all of them. I trained more hours in a week when I was 12 than I do now. I probably trained around 30 hours a week just because I like moving around — I could never sit still.
Frierson: How hard was it getting the coaching you needed?
Tilga: When I was still in my hometown, I didn't really focus on track, I was still a basketball player, and then I moved into the city (Tartu), which is the second-biggest city in Estonia — it's an Athens-sized city — and that's when I moved away from basketball and got into track. I found a really good coach and he led me down this path.
Frierson: I've talked to a lot of different international student-athletes and one thing a lot of them have said is that they had a hard time adjusting to the food in the U.S. because there's more salt and sugar and things like that. Was that hard for you, as well?
Tilga: It definitely takes some adjusting to. Serving sizes are smaller because everything has so much more fat and sugar and stuff. I just tried to read about what I'm eating more than I do in Estonia because in Estonia it's very hard to overeat because most things are healthier.
Frierson: What is your favorite dish back home? Is there one thing you always look forward to eating?
Tilga: I don't know if I have one, just something my mom has made, probably.
Frierson: How are you in the kitchen?
Tilga: I can do the very basics [laughs]. It maybe doesn't taste the best, but I know it has good stuff in it, like vegetables, rice, chicken, all that. That's what I can make.
Frierson: What was the feeling like when you won the heptathlon title? You had to edge Kyle at the end to do, so were you celebrating for yourself but also feeling a little bad for Kyle?
Tilga: I think it was a good feeling, and I think Kyle didn't feel too bad either because I know for sure that I wouldn't have scored what I did if he wasn't pushing me, and he wouldn't have scored that if I wasn't pushing him.
I think we were both happy at the end of the day, and I think Kyle realizes that he's still so young and his time is definitely coming. I don't think I can hold him off for long anymore. He's probably going to overtake me soon.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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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