Valter Külvet (1)

Sep 13, 2025

Valter Külvet was a highly gifted Estonian decathlete who competed for the Soviet Union during his main international career. He set Estonian senior decathlon records: 8332 points in 1987 and 8506 points in 1988.

Estonian decathlete Valter Külvet - Decathlon 2000
Estonia

Date of birth: 19 February 1964
Place of birth: Õisu, Estonia
Date of death: 02 July 1998
Height: 191cm / Weight: 91kg
Decathlon: 8506 Staiki 1988
Coach: Fred Kudu
The Unfinished Decathlon
Full career

Valter Külvet remains one of Estonia’s most celebrated decathletes of the 1980s - a prodigy whose promising international career was repeatedly derailed by injuries.

Personal bests
100 m	10,7 (+)	Viimsi 1981
Long jump	7.44 (+0.0)	Tallinn 1987
Shot put	15.85	Tartu 1986
High jump	2.11	Loodi 1981
400 m	48,08	Staiki 1988
110 m hurdles	14,55 (-0.9)	Staiki 1988
Discus throw	55.28	Palanga 1994
Pole vault	4.90	Moscow, SU 1986
Javelin throw	65.36	Linköping 1988
1500 m	4.15,93	Staiki 1988
Total	8872

Decathlons over 8000 points (7)
Pts	Results	1st day	2nd day	P	Venue
8104	10,7 - 7.26 - 13.86 - 2.09 - 48,5 - 14,8 - 47.92 - 4.50 - 60.34 - 4.37,8	4235	3869	1	Viimsi 1981
8046	11,28 - 6.97 - 13.56 - 2.11 - 49,06 - 14,99 - 49.88 - 4.60 - 60.24 - 4.33,01	4071	3975	6	Götzis 1982
8132	11,21 - 6.90 - 15.25 - 1.93 - 48,46 - 14,88 - 48.90 - 4.70 - 61.44 - 4.20,90	4036	4096	3	Leningrad 1985
8168	11,30 - 7.04 - 15.50 - 1.99 - 49,45 - 15,03 - 49.94 - 4.90 - 61.32 - 4.30,29	4072	4096	1	Moscow, SU 1986
8332	11,06 - 7.44 - 14.57 - 2.04 - 49,27 - 14,98 - 49.36 - 4.80 - 63.08 - 4.25,94	4219	4113	1	Tallinn 1987
8506	11,05 - 7.35 - 15.78 - 2.00 - 48,08 - 14,55 - 52.04 - 4.60 - 61.72 - 4.15,93	4294	4212	1	Staiki 1988
8091 v.	11,18 - 7.10 - 15.69 - 2.00 - 50,01 - 15,15 - 52.14 - 4.60 - 58.90 - 4.32,89	4108	3983	3	Alhama de Murcia 1992

v. all events with wind <=4.0 m/s and wind average for 3 events > 2.0 m/s (IAAF rule since 01/01/2010)

International medals (2)
Year	Venue	Championships	Event	Total	Medal
1983	Schwechat 1983	U20 European	Decathlon	7880	Gold
1985	Kobe 1985	Universiade	Decathlon	7971	Silver

Comments (1)

Dale Harder wrote on Apr 12, 2016

I think someone ought to write a biography, even a short one, of Valter Kulvet. I know he started training at a very early age--earlier than most--and photos and his progression would be very interesting.

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Decathlon best performers 2nd day >4200 points

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