Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie beat Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in a half-marathon challenge at the Vienna city marathon yesterday, with four months to go before the London Olympic event.

The Ethiopian two-time 10,000m Olympic gold medallist, taking part in his second Vienna race, finished the 21.1 kilometres in 1hr 00min 52sec, failing to better his 2011 result of 1hr 00min 18sec.

Women’s marathon world-record holder Radcliffe finished in 1hr 12:03.

The 38-year-old had started with a 7min 52sec lead on Gebrselassie – corresponding to the difference between their best half-marathon times – but the Ethiopian, also 38, eventually overtook her in the 16th kilometre after a long chase.

“I just said to her: ‘Paula, hurry up!’,” the ever-smiling Gebrselassie said after the race.

“She was not so fantastic today, I thought she would keep it up until the last kilometres but it was an early catch. The race was good, it was a little bit windy but the atmosphere is fantastic, to run here is wonderful,” he added.

An apologetic Radcliffe, meanwhile, blamed a recent illness for what she saw as a poor result.

“It didn’t go well for me, I already didn’t feel well after the sixth or seventh kilometre but I really wanted to finish, even though it wasn’t such a good time,” she said in German, which she studied at university.

“I hoped Haile would overtake me in the 20th, or the 19th kilometre but it was earlier than that. I’m sorry I couldn’t give more today.”

Radcliffe said she was still on antibiotics after a bout of bronchitis in recent weeks, “but that should maybe take off one minute, not two or three.”

Her best half-marathon time is 1:06:47.