Martti Vainio
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Martti Vainio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Martti Olavi Vainio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Finnish | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 30 December 1950 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Vehkalahti, Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 31⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (160 lb; 11.3 st) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Long-distance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Turun Urheiluliitto Lapuan Virkiä 1983–84 Saarijärven Pullistus 1986–88 1972–82 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Aulis Potinkara 1971–82 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Worlds | 1983: 5000 m 3rd 1983: 10,000 m 4th 1987: 10,000 m DNF 1987: Marathon DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regional finals | 1978: 5000 m 6th 1978 : 10,000 m 1st 1982: 5000 m 8th 1982: 10,000 m 3rd 1986: 5000 m 6th 1986: 10,000 m 7th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | 1976: 10,000m 8h1 1980: 5000 m 11th 1980: 10,000 m 13th 1984: 5000 m DSQ 1984: 10,000 m DSQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | 5000 m: 4th (1983) 10,000 m: 2nd (1978) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 1500 m: 3:41.09 (1983) 3000 m: 7:46.24 (1982) 5000 m: 13:20.07 (1983) 10,000 m: 27:30.99 (1978, NR) Marathon: 2:16:41 (1986) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Martti Olavi Vainio (born 30 December 1950 in Vehkalahti) is a former Finnish long distance runner. In Finland he is recognized as the last of the great runners of famous "V-line", the previous ones being Juha Väätäinen, Lasse Virén, and Pekka Vasala. Each of them won at least one gold medal either at Summer Olympics or European Athletics Championships in the 1970's.
His achievements in major athletic championships include gold in the 10,000 metres race 1978 European Championships in Athletics in Prague and bronze in the same distance at the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens. At the 1983 World Championships in Athletics5000 metres, which was also a closely contested fixture, Vainio only assuring his medal by a palpable lunge over the finish line. he dropped to fourth by a very short margin in the 10,000 metres race, and incensed by that caught the bronze in the
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career 1972–77
Martti Vainio started systematic training at the age of 20 in the autumn 1971 with his coach Aulis Potinkara[1]. He received his first national championships medal in 1974 when finishing third in 5000 metres after Seppo Tuominen and Rune Holmén. In the same year he ran his first 10,000 m race with result 29:09.6. He broke the 29-minutes barrier for the first time in 1976. In the same year he was second at the Finnish Championships in Athletics in 10,000 metres after Pekka Päivärinta and became selected to his first Olympics in Montreal. However, he did not qualify for 10,000 metres final, finishing as the second fastest runner to be eliminated from the final. He won his first Finnish Championship in 1977 when beating Kaarlo Maaninka by 0.9 seconds in 10,000 metres.
[edit] Years of success 1978–82
Vainio ran intelligently in the 1978 European Championships 10,000 metres race, spending most of the distance among the lead group's last runners. He only started to rise in the lead group after 8,500 metres. Due to the fast and steady pace, the other runners – some of them presumably better kickers than Vainio – had exhausted themselves, and Vainio only needed to sprint the last lap in 58.4 seconds to win the race. Especially notable was the dropping of Brendan Foster from the lead to the fourth place in the last 130 metres. His winning time 27:30.99 was fifth at the all-time list of that time and Vainio improved his personal best by 28.7 seconds. Later at the same championships Vainio was sixth in 5,000 metres race. At the Track & Field News annual world ranking Vainio was second in 10,000 metres after world record breaker Henry Rono and tenth in 5000 metres.
Because of his international breakthrough Vainio was one of the potential gold medal candidates prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics. Vainio was also known about his tough training programs and during the winter 1980 he ran, at the most, over 300 kilometres per week during his four-month long training camp in New Zealand[1]. Presumably that was too much and due to overtraining and some unspecified stomach problems, 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.
Despite the disappointment of the Olympic year Vainio returned to the world top and ran very good season in 1981 at his best event 10,000 metres. He won Bislett Games in Oslo by his second best result so far 27:45.50 and represented Europe at the 1981 IAAF World Cup in Rome by finishing fifth with the result 27:48.62. At the Track & Field News annual world ranking he was fourth after Werner Schildhauer, Geoff Smith, and Mohamed Kedir.
In the following year 1982 Vainio succeeded again at the European Championships in AthensAlberto Cova and Werner Schildhauer in 10,000 metres with the excellent time 27:42.51. He competed in 5,000 metres as well and finished 8th. At the Track & Field News annual world ranking Vainio was seventh in 10,000 metres. where he won bronze medal after
[edit] World Championships in Helsinki 1983
After the 1982 season collaboration of Vainio and Potinkara ended in mutual understanding and Vainio started to plan his training by himself[1]. However, certain people started to influence his training, one among the others was Jouko Elevaara, known as a couch of Kaarlo Maaninka[2]. According to Vainio's own statement he started to use hormones in the autumn 1982 to avoid detrimental effects of overtraining to his preparation to the first World Championships in Helsinki, the capital of his home-country Finland. According to Vainio, first hormone ampullasPalermo in the autumn 1982.[2] were retrieved from
Vainio succeeded in his preparation to his home championships excellently. 10,000 metres finalAlberto Cova. was held in the third day of the Championships. Despite the slow race which culminated in the last lap Vainio finished fourth with time 28:01.37 missing gold medal only by 0.33 seconds and bronze by 0.11 seconds. The home audience was very impressed about his achievement, since they knew very well that he was not at his best in the slow races. Gold medal was won again by
5000 metres final was held in the final day of the Championships. In his second-best event Vainio surprised Finnish audience with bronze medal. Final metres culminated again to tight competition after overwhelming champion Eamonn Coghlan. As in the 10,000 metres race, Werner Schildhauer took the silver beating Vainio by 0.14 seconds. Vainio reached his bronze medal in extraordinary way, he flinged himself in the last 5 metres by falling flat on his face. As a result he beat Dmitri Dmitriyev, who was fourth, by 0.04 seconds. Vainio considers this race as the most sentimental event of his career[1].
After the Championships Vainio competed in Weltklasse Zürich and finished fourth in 5000 metres with his personal best 13:20.07. At the Track & Field News annual world ranking Vainio was fourth in 5000 metres and seventh in 10,000 metres.
[edit] Doping case at the Olympics 1984
In 1984 Vainio started his season by finishing third at the Rotterdam Marathon with his record time 2:13:04. After the race he gave doping sample in the test being organized by the Finnish Athletics Association. The test did not had official status and it was merely considered as a control test helping to avoid Finnish athletes not to get caught at the tests performed in international championships. Therefore, only the so called A-sample was taken and not the B-sample, which is used to ensure the test result after positive A-sample. However, Vainio's A-sample was tested positive for anabolic steroids and the head coach of the Finnish Athletics Federation, Antti Lanamäki, delegated Timo Vuorimaa, the head coach of long-distance runners, to inform Vainio about the test result. Vuorimaa informed Vainio only by mentioning that there was something strange in his test sample, not providing detailed information about the substance. Vainio believed that he had been using only testosterone and not anabolic steroids at all. Therefore, his only action was to give up drug use a little bit earlier prior to anticipated tests.[2]
Vainio's track season was really strong. In June 1984 he competed five times in 5000 metres the weakest result being 13:30.40 and once in 10,000 metres with his all-time second best result 27:41.75. At the Bislett Games in 28 June he broke Lasse Virén's Finnish record in 5000 metres and finished second after Fernando Mamede[3] with the result 13:16.02. In July he competed only three times; first two times in the Finnish Championships 6–8 July in Kajaani where he took the gold medals after solo runs both in 5000 metres (13:24.99) and 10,000 metres (28:06.85), and third time when improving his 3000 metres record to 7:44.42 in Varkaus, 12 July. According to Vainio's interview in 2004 he took his next injection after the Rotterdam Marathonmetabolism to take its effect and ensure him to give negative test at the Olympics[2]. around 10 July and he was sure that this time period will be long enough to allow
10,000 metres final was run in 6 August. Vainio took the lead after 5700 metres and only Alberto Cova was able to follow him. When the final lap started these two runners were well over 100 metres ahead of the other runners. This time, hovewer, Vainio was not able to challenge Cova who took the gold with the time 27:47.54 and Vainio silver with the time 27:51.10. Far behind, Mike McLeod was third in the finish line with the time 28:06.22. Vainio qualified also to the 5000 metres final but he was not allowed to start that race anymore because his doping sample after 10,000 metres final was tested positive for Metenolone, a long acting anabolic steroid.
Especially in Finland Vainio's positive test result was big scandal and provoked public indignation. Although, Vainio's positive doping test after Rotterdam Marathon was unofficial because of missing B-sample public pressure forced the Finnish Athletics Association to disqualify all Vainio's results after Rotterdam and to discharge Antti Lanamäki from his duties. Vainio himself did not wanted to provide detailed information about the event, probably partly because he was himself still investigating reasons for positive test result. Finnish mass mediahormone injection by accident, instead of the intended Vitamin B injection. Vainio himself released the explanation about the confusion between anabolic steroids and testosterone only several years after the accident. demanded explanation and one story released to the public alleged that Vainio's training partner, the janitor Alpo Nyrönen had given Vainio a
There are still some speculations and controversies around the Olympics 10,000 metres race. Alberto Cova has confessed the use of blood transfusion in his career and therefore Mike McLeod, originally third in the finish line, claims he should be awarded with the gold medal[4]. However, Vainio considers himself as a second best runner in the 10,000 metres race for the end of his life[1].
Although the Finnish Athletics Association disqualified all of the Vainio's results from the summer 1984 he was anyway internationally recognized. At the Track & Field News annual world ranking he was fourth in 10,000 metres and eighth in 5000 metres.
[edit] Return to the tracks 1986–88
Initially Vainio received a life-long ban from competitive athletics, but after the Finnish Athletics Association made a plea for a reprieve, it was shortened to 18 months. In 1986 Vainio returned to the track and ran 10,000 metres at the Bislett Games 27:44.57. At the European Championships he placed seventh in the 10,000 metres final with his time 28:08.72 and sixth in the 5000 metres final with the time 13:22.67. At the Track and Field News annual world ranking Vainio was sixth in 10,000 metres.
In 1987 Vainio concentrated on 10,000 metres and ran 27:42.65 in Helsinki, 2 July. At the World Championships 10,000 metres race ended in farce. The first half of the race was slow, 5000 metres lap time being only 14:13.07. At 5800 metres Paul Kipkoech changed pace and left other runners behind. Francesco Panetta, Salvatore Antibo, and Vainio started their pursuit a little bit later and were not able to properly challenge Kipkoech. Subsequently Kipkoech was far ahead of other runners and the officials decremented the lap table, which displays the remaining laps to the runners, immediately after Kipkoech passed the finish line after each round. As a result, Vainio and some other runners became confused about the remaining laps and started their sprint 400 metres too early and finished the race after 9600 metres. Some runners continued the race after their "first finish", but Vainio was too tired to realize the situation. Vainio also competed in Marathon but after a fairly good start he did not finish.[5] At the Track & Field News annual world ranking Vainio was recognized as a seventh best runner in 10,000 metres.
In 1988 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 selected to Olympics anymore.
[edit] Masters World Records 1991
Vainio returned to the tracks once again in 1991. He ran age group M40 Masters world record in 3000 meters 8:05.08 in Mikkeli, 12 June. Later he improved also 10,000 metres world record 28:30.88 at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo, 25 June. At the World Masters Athletics Championships in Turku he won M40 10,000 metres with the result 29:16.88.[1]
[edit] Trivia
During his career (1974–91) Vainio competed 80 times in 10,000 metres. He ran 68 times below 29-minute barrier, 24 times below 28:10, and 10 times below 28 minutes.[3]
Vainio's winning time at the 1978 European Championships in Prague – 27:30.99 – is still the Finnish record and European Championship record.
Vainio's 10,000 metres time 28:30.58 in 1991 is still the World record of the age group M40.[6]
Vainio achieved five Finnish Championships in 5000 metres (1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1987) and eight in 10,000 metres (1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1987). He won Finnish Championship in the cross country running four times in 1981, 1983, 1986 and 1987.[7]
After his sports career, Martti Vainio has worked in the travel industry.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Tanhuanpää, Asko (1993). Kilpakenttien sankarit 2. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Tammi. pp. 52–55. ISBN 951-30-8903-7.
- ^ a b c d [|Suomen Urheilulehti] (5 November 2004). "Näin siinä kävi (in Finnish)". A-lehdet. http://www.urheilulehti.fi/article117555-1.html. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- ^ a b Hannus, Matti (1999). Kultaiset kentät, Suomen yleisurheilun vuosisata. Juva: Werner Soderström Osakeyhtiö. pp. 187–188. ISBN 951-0-23703-5.
- ^ Turnbull, Simon (1 October 2006). "Athletics: McLeod: When we were the run kings". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics-mcleod-when-we-were-the-run-kings-418262.html. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
- ^ Pekola, Tapio; Hannus, Matti (1987). Rooma 87. Helsinki: Juoksija-lehti. pp. 56–67. ISBN 951-9465-12-X.
- ^ "Records Outdoor Men". World Masters Athletics. 6 July 2009. http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/records/outdoor-men. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
- ^ [|Tilastopaja Oy]. "Martti Vainio's profile". Tilastopaja. http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/fi/atm.php?ID=6939. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
[edit] External links
- IAAF profile for Martti Vainio
- Tilastopaja profile for Martti Vainio (in Finnish)
- Track & Field News Men's World Rankings, 1947–2002
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