Australia's Jackson Strong overcomes injuries for third X Games in Minneapolis

The first image that pops onto the screen in the intro video on motocross star Jackson "Jacko" Strong's website is of him walking on crutches with a heavily wrapped bloody right ankle.

Strong, dressed in all black with a baseball cap, crutches to a wall with his long-term goals posted and written on a wrinkled sheet of paper.

The camera zooms in to read what flip maneuvers would win him X Games, including the front flip he landed as a rookie to make history and defeat extreme sport legend Travis Pastrana in 2011.

Nearly a decade later, Strong's career has been marked by as many injury setbacks as record-breaking performances, but he has overcome adversity and continued to set the bar high in his sport dominated by a generation of talented riders from his homeland in Australia.

"The future of the sport is pretty strong," said Strong, who is competing in his third consecutive X Games in Minneapolis. "The sky's the limit with what we can do on those bikes."

The 27-year-old from Lockhart, Australia, came to U.S. Bank Stadium this week to compete in Friday's Moto X Freestyle and Saturday's Moto X Best Trick. The latter event will give him a shot at his second straight gold medal, after winning in Shanghai earlier this year.

Shanghai was also the first time Strong won Best Trick since taking the X Games gold in Minneapolis last summer. In between, Strong had four ankle surgeries this year, which followed the staph infection in his leg in 2018.

"It's been pretty debilitating for my training," Strong said. "It's made it hard to stay fit and stay on top of my game. But I've been doing what I can and spending as much time, ankle permitting, as I can on my motorcycle. I think if the stars align, hopefully, I can put down a good ride and see what happens."

Strong's staph infection was serious enough to keep him out of the 2018 Sydney X Games, the first in his home country. Three years ago, he suffered a neck laceration and was flown to a hospital with potential life-threatening injuries after a crash in the Moto X Quarterpipe in Austin, Texas.

When doctors cleared the threat of artery damage, Strong told the helicopter pilot to fly him back to the event. It wasn't just to be a spectator. He ended up winning his first Best Trick gold since back-to-back first-place X Games finishes in 2011 and 2012.

"That was definitely an emotional roller coaster," Strong said. "So much stress and fear going to the hospital. I kind of let go of riding altogether at that point in time. But when everything checked out, I said, 'We might as well finish with one more event. We came halfway around the world to be here.' "

In 2017, Strong waved a Vikings flag to pump up the Minnesota crowd before landing a double backflip on the way to placing second in the Best Trick despite a broken left wrist. A year ago, Vikings safety Harrison Smith, a friend, cheered Strong to a Best Trick gold medal victory with a one-handed front flip. Smith's buddy came out with a medieval Vikings helmet, horns and all.

You could almost call Strong a local favorite with his Minnesota connections, which also include training in St. Cloud on a snowmobile for the Winter X Games several years ago. He designed his own snow bike track system before finishing second in Snow Bike Best Trick in Aspen in 2018.

Strong's resilience and innovation toward his craft have kept him among the elite. Finishing with a bronze medal, behind fellow Australians Rob Adelberg and Josh Sheehan in Moto X Freestyle late Friday, he fell short of his expectations.

Still, Strong avoided a nasty spill, so he will get to unveil his new trick that could lead him to another Moto X Best Trick gold Saturday, riding in a field that includes four other Australians.

"I'm just looking forward to trying to leave a legacy the next 5-10 years," Strong said, "then past the torch onto someone else."