KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) — Rosemarie Whyte faces the prospect of going under the knife to correct a chronic injury that threatens to end her career.

The 24-year-old Whyte, a finalist in the 400 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is battling a long-standing hamstring injury that has caused her severe pain and discomfort in recent months.

“We don’t want to put the blame on anyone, but the facts are, she suffered a major injury four years ago — an injury that was partially healed — and she did not receive proper treatment, so it became chronic over the years,” her coach Glen Mills, whose charges also include sprint megastar Usain Bolt, told the Track Alerts website.

“She had a major [hamstring] pull and it healed with a huge scar, and though she saw four specialists, one in Germany and three in England, she is still suffering from what can be described as a scar near a major nerve in the leg.”

Whyte has been placed on a treatment programme which Mills hopes will get her back on track, but he was realistic about her recovery.

“I know she is under great stress because it’s career-threatening,” he said. “Because of the seriousness of the injury, an operation might be the only solution — and that could end up putting her out of competition for a whole year.

“I’m hoping she doesn’t have to have to go this route because one doesn’t usually come back the same.”

Mills indicated that the Racers Track Club, of which he is the principal coach, will do all it can to give Whyte support.

“Racers Track Club has always attracted very good talents, but most of these talents, including Usain Bolt, usually come with major problems,” he said.

“When this happens, we’re caught in a programme of rebuilding and restructuring the athlete. It’s a process which can take as much as a whole year.”

He added: “We are then faced with rebuilding that athlete’s confidence and employing ways and means of non-recurrence of the injury.”

Whyte has not won any individual medals at a major championships, but she is an integral part of the Jamaica women’s 4×400 metres relay team, which captured bronze in Beijing, and silver a year later at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.