33 Facts About Martti Vainio

Martti Vainio started systematic training at the age of 20 in the autumn of 1971 with his coach Aulis Potinkara.

Martti Vainio received his first national championships medal in 1974 when he finished third in 5000 metres after Seppo Tuominen and Rune Holmen.

Martti Vainio broke the 29-minutes barrier for the first time in 1976.

Martti Vainio won his first Finnish Championship in 1977 when he beat Kaarlo Maaninka by 0.9 seconds in 10,000 metres.

Martti Vainio used strategy in the 1978 European Championships 10,000 metres race, spending most of the race drifting off the lead pack until the 8,500-metre mark.

Martti Vainio's winning time 27:30.99 improved his personal best by 28.7 seconds.

Later at the same championships Martti Vainio was sixth in the 5,000 metres race.

Martti Vainio was known for his tough training programs, and during the winter 1980 he ran over 300 kilometres per week during his four-month-long training camp in New Zealand.

Later believing he had overtrained and suffered some unspecified stomach problems, Martti Vainio did not succeed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, finishing 13th in the 10,000 metres final and 11th in the 5,000 metres final.

Martti Vainio won the Bislett Games in Oslo in 27:45.50 and represented Europe at the 1981 IAAF World Cup in Rome, finishing fifth running a 27:48.62.

Martti Vainio competed in 5,000 metres as well and finished 8th.

Martti Vainio has stated that he started to use hormones in the autumn of 1982 to avoid the detrimental effects of overtraining in his preparation for the first World Championships in Helsinki, the capital of his home country, Finland.

Martti Vainio finished fourth with the time 28:01.37, missing the gold medal by only 0.33 seconds and bronze by 0.11 seconds.

Martti Vainio won his bronze medal in an extraordinary way; he flung himself in the last 5 metres and fell flat on his face.

Martti Vainio considers this race to be the most sentimental event in his career.

In 1984, Martti Vainio started his season by finishing third at the Rotterdam Marathon with a personal record of 2:13:04.

Martti Vainio's A-sample tested positive for anabolic steroids with no B-sample to confirm it.

Martti Vainio believed that he had only been using testosterone and not anabolic steroids at all.

Martti Vainio took the lead after 5700 metres and only Alberto Cova was able to follow him.

Martti Vainio's cheating caused him to be stripped of his medal and a lifetime ban.

Martti Vainio's positive test result was a big scandal and provoked public indignation.

Martti Vainio himself did not want to provide detailed information about the incident because he, himself was still investigating the reasons for the positive test result.

Martti Vainio himself released the explanation about the confusion between anabolic steroids and testosterone only several years after the incident.

However, Martti Vainio considers himself to be the second best runner in the 10,000 metres race despite his failed drug tests.

In 1986, Martti Vainio returned to the track and ran 10,000 metres at the Bislett Games in 27:44.57.

At the Track and Field News annual world ranking, Martti Vainio was sixth in 10,000 metres.

In 1987 Martti Vainio concentrated on 10,000 metres and ran 27:42.65 in Helsinki on 2 July.

Francesco Panetta, Salvatore Antibo and Martti Vainio started their pursuit a little bit later and were not able to properly challenge Kipkoech.

Some runners continued the race after their "first finish", but Martti Vainio was too tired to realize the situation.

In 1988 Martti Vainio ran 10,000 metres in 28:02.04 at the Bislett Games, but that was not enough to convince the Finnish Olympic Committee, and he was not picked for the Olympics team.

Martti Vainio ran 68 times below the 29-minute barrier, 24 times below 28:10, and 10 times below 28 minutes.

Martti Vainio achieved five Finnish Championships in 5000 metres and nine in 10,000 metres.

Martti Vainio won the Finnish Championship in cross country running four times in 1981,1983,1986 and 1987.