Vetter competed for Germany at the 2016 Summer Olympics, along with Julian Weber and eventual gold medalist Thomas Röhler. Leading up to his maiden Olympics, Vetter unleashed the javelin with a personal best of 88.23 m to top the field and attain the Olympic entry standard (83.00 m) by a five-metre margin at the Kuortane Games in Finland. Coming to the final with the second best throw at 85.96 m from the qualifying stage, Vetter opened the competition with an 85.32 m throw on his first attempt to seize an early lead, but Röhler, along with 2015 World Champion Julius Yego of Kenya and defending Olympic Champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago overtook him for the medal positions. Unable to improve his mark in the remaining attempts, Vetter finished in fourth place, outside the podium by just six centimetres. Less than a month after his disappointment at the Olympics, Vetter finished first in a world-class field at the 2016 ISTAF Berlin, throwing a personal best of 89.57 m.