Image: Supplied.

Reigning 250SX West champion Justin Cooper has suffered a season-ending foot injury while riding just days out from the opening round of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, crushing his 2022 campaign before it began.

Cooper crashed while training and in doing so his foot was caught under the footpeg of his bike, resulting in multiple broken and dislocated metatarsals, along with some fractures in the center of his foot.

The recovery period for a Lisfranc injury is approximately six months, ultimately ending his 250SX challenge and bringing into question the condition he will be in when the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship kicks off later in the year.

“Unfortunately I had a crash yesterday at the track,” Cooper shared. “I got a little bit off-line in a rhythm and didn’t get the lift for the next triple and cased it pretty hard which was fine. Almost had it saved and when I finally laid it down my foot got pinched under the footpeg.

“That being said, it turns out I have broken and dislocated four metatarsals and have some fractures in the center of my foot as well. Will most likely get surgery early next week.

“Not the way I wanted to start the year off, everything has been going really good until this. This is called a Lisfranc injury and will probably put me off the bike for about six months. Tough pill to swallow, but this is part of life and you have these obstacles. How you overcome these difficulties is what defines you.

“I’ll keep you guys updated once I know more, it’s all very fresh so just giving a quick update on what I know so far. I will be missing all of SX, hopefully will be good to go for MX.”

The 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship kicks off this Saturday at Anaheim, CA, where interestingly, Cooper’s Star Racing Yamaha team have defending 250SX East champion Colt Nichols entered in 250SX West.