Joel Parkinson Out Of Fiji Pro With Knee Injury

Joel Parkinson will officially miss the 2016 Fiji Pro, which begins on June 5, after blowing out his knee on a reo at Cloudbreak today during a freesurf.

Parko alerted fellow World Tour competitors that he’d worn the injury via group text on WhatsApp. When some responded under the assumption that Parko was joking, he texted an image of himself in a leg brace.

Joel’s now travelling straight home to Australia, where he’ll begin the lengthy recovery process involved in bouncing back from what’s suspected to be an MCL injury.

What could the injury mean for the world number 10’s tour future? Parko pulled out of the Oi Rio Pro, citing a knee injury, only to turn out at the obscure QS1000 event, the Komune Bali Pro, held at Keramas, one of the world’s most perfect waves.

Parko had previously been vocal in his opposition to the Rio Pro, where he was one of the dozen or more competitors struck down by a mystery illness last year, after being forced to compete in contaminated water. The decision to miss the event posed a major hurdle to his hopes of claiming this year’s world title.

Despite winning the world title in 2012, Parko’s career has been dogged by untimely injuries. In 2009, with a seemingly unstoppable world title lead, he tore an ankle ligament attempting an air reverse while freesurfing in Bali. He would finish the year runner-up in a heartbreaking showdown with close friend, Mick Fanning, at the Pipe Masters.

Regardless of the injury, Parko and biz partner/fellow injured competitor, Bede Durbidge, will no doubt manage to enjoy watching pal Taj Burrow’s last event from the comfort of the Balter brewery. Stab, however, is saddened that we won’t be seeing more of this in 2016:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPqFuykKWVM