Junior multi-event transfer, Romet Vahter, is from Saaremaa, Estonia. He started his collegiate track career at the University of North Texas and then transferred to West Texas A&M, where he spent his last two years before arriving in Athens to continue his track journey.
 
Here is a look at who Romet Vahter (pronounced row-met vah-dur) is…
 
Q: Where were you born?
 
Romet: I was born in Estonia on an island called Saaremaa. I lived in a small town about 13,000 people. In a small community, you kind of know everyone. 
 
Q: Can you speak any other languages?
 
Romet: I do.  I can speak Estonian, and I used to speak a little bit of Russian.
 
Q: Do you have any siblings?
 
Romet: I have two sisters. I have an older sister who is 30, and I have a younger sister who is 10. I am the only athlete in the family, but my mom used to play volleyball. I’m not too sure where I get my athletic genes from.
 
Q: How did you get into track?
 
Romet: In my first grade, we had a sports day, and we had like long jump and high jump, and I was surprisingly good at it from the beginning.  Then I went to practice in second grade, and the coaches saw potential in me and they said “you have to keep going”. That was about it.
 
Q: Were there any other sports you played other than track?
 
Romet: I used to play soccer throughout my whole life until I was about 16. Then I switched to doing fully track.
 
Q: So what made you choose UGA?
 
Romet: First of all, I liked the Estonia connection to the school because obviously we have an Estonia volunteer coach here right now (Janek Õiglane) and then we’ve had so many Estonia decathletes here before, like four of them, I think. That was the main thing, and I really just connected with Coach (Ryan) Bailey a lot.
 
Q: What was the biggest culture shock when you came to America?
 
Romet: Honestly, that people were nice. People came up to me, and I had to have small talk. I wasn’t used to that because in Estonia, we don’t really do small talk. People kind of stay away from each other. We’re not mean people in a sense, but if we don’t have anything meaningful to say, we just don’t say it. So that was a big change.
 
Q: Do you have a post-meet meal?
 
Romet: Usually after the decathlon, I like to go to Little Caesars and get a $7 pepperoni pizza, and I eat all of that in one sitting. I like to eat a dozen donuts as well. I just eat as much as possible because that’s the only time I really can; otherwise I kind of have to be strict about my diet.
 
Q: Do you have a favorite Estonian candy?
 
Romet: I don’t eat candy that much, but I like cookies a lot. Yeah, I’d say like cookies or ice cream. 
 
Q: Who was your top musical artist for 2025?
 
Romet: It was Drake. My favorite song is “Sandra’s Rose”. It’s from Scorpion, but “Passionfruit” is also a good song.
 
Q: Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?
 
Romet: Favorite movie is Interstellar. It’s such a good movie. Probably even brought a tear to my eye, and TV show is Peaky Blinders. I highly recommend, it’s my favorite.
 
Q: What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
 
Romet: I used to make music. I was in a rap group with two of my friends. We actually went to a couple of shows where we performed at a nightclub at a festival. We got paid for it and everything, it was like an official thing. I always think about it; if we took it more seriously, it could have been something.
 
Q: What’s Estonian rap like?
 
Romet: Well, I would say it gets a lot of its influence from American rap. But now, especially the last few years, it’s kind of been infused with EDM. It’s really like some house beats and then people rap over it. That’s really popular right now.
 
Q: If you could only live with one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
 
Romet: Outside of food and water, probably my phone. Other than my phone, I guess a comfortable bed. I really like sleeping.
 
Q: Do you have a celebrity look-alike?
 
Romet: So I didn’t have good hair until like a month ago, I just had a middle part. Someone said I look like this guy a little bit. (Shows a photo of James Van Der Beek) 
 
Q: Who was your celebrity crush growing up?
 
Romet: Growing up, it was what everyone had. It was Megan Fox, and then Margot Robbie.
 
Q: What song would you use to describe how you practice or compete?
 
Romet: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. It’s like 2000’s 2010’s, the popular party music from then.
 
Q: Do you have any final words or messages you would like to share?
 
Romet: I feel like I’m going to do great things this season. That’s all I’m going to say.