In 1987 Vainio concentrated on 10,000 metres and ran 27:42.65 in Helsinki on 2 July. The World Championships 10,000 metres race ended in a 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 the other runners and the officials decremented the lap table, which displays the remaining laps for 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, 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 the Marathon but did not finish. At the Track &amp; Field News annual world ranking, Vainio was recognized as the seventh best runner in 10,000 metres.