Veronica Campbell, the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 meters, suffered a torn muscle in her left quad at yesterday's Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Gateshead, possibly knocking the 24-year-old Jamaican out for the rest of the season.

"The initial forecast is eight weeks," said her manager, Claude Bryan of On Track Management, adding that she'll be visiting a specialist within the next 48 hours.

Disaster struck Campbell as she entered the homestretch of the 200 meters. Grimacing as she came off the turn, Campbell fell to the track some 80 meters from the finish line and was later carried off the track.

The runner-up in the event at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, Campbell produced the fastest time of 2006 in the 100 meters at last month's adidas Track Classic in Carson, Calif., clocking 10.99 seconds. At the 2004 Olympic Games, Campbell left Athens as the most heavily decorated female athlete. In addition to her gold in the 200, she dashed to bronze in the 100, and anchored the victorious Jamaican quartet in the 4x100 relay. She ended her Olympic season with a double win at the season-capping World Athletics Final.

The Gateshead race was won by American Sanya Richards, whose 22.25 performance knocked more than a quarter of a second from her previous personal best. After her world-leading 49.82 in the 400 meters at Oslo's Bislett Games on June 2, Richards indicated that if she ran well in Gateshead, she would pursue the 200/400 double at the U.S. national championships in Indianapolis later this month.