Russo will be the last Olympian standing when the
women's competition begins at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
tonight.
"She was the little girl on the team last year and all of a
sudden she's the team leader," national head coach Peggy Liddick
said.
Injury and retirement have cut a swathe through the elite squad
which took Australia to the team final in Athens nine months ago.
Lisa Skinner, Stephanie Moorhouse and Melissa Munro have quit the
sport, and long-term leader Allana Slater and Karen Nguyen are still
recovering from injuries sustained in the Olympic campaign. Slater
has had surgery on both ankles and one knee since the Olympics, and
is on such familiar terms with her orthopaedic surgeon that she
invited him to her 21st birthday party last month.
However, the wear and tear of eight years as an international
gymnast has not dimmed her passion for the sport.
"It's what I feel like I was born to do," Australia's greatest
female gymnast said as she prepared to watch a new generation strut
their stuff over the next four days.
"I have achieved as much or more than I thought I would achieve
in gymnastics, but somewhere inside there's still unfinished
business.
"Another thing that is motivating me is that I have done a home
Olympics, so to have a home world titles (Melbourne in November) and
a home Commonwealth Games (Melbourne next March) would be very
exciting."
Slater is still restricted to simple skills in the gym but said
she would move mountains to be ready for the world championships
trials in September. "I am going to go out there and give it the
biggest push I can," she said.
The format of this world championships, which does not include a
team competition, will work in her favour.
She may not be able to recover her all-around skills by then, but
her coaches are confident she will at least be able to recapture her
uneven bars routine to contend for a place in the individual
apparatus event.
Nguyen, who snapped a titanium screw in her wrist while competing
at the Olympics, has had further surgery on the joint but is
expected to recover for the trials in September.
That leaves Russo, who made an astonishing international debut at
14 in 2003 when she finished 12th in the all-around competition at
the world championships and qualified for the beam final.
She is favoured to claim her first national all-around title on
Saturday night after recovering from a stress fracture in her shin
which impeded her Olympic performance.
Russo, who trains at the Victorian Institute of Sport, has shown
impeccable form leading into the titles.
She finished fifth on the beam at a World Cup event in Belgium
two weeks ago, her first competition since the Olympics.
"I was just inspired by being there at the Olympics, so I keep
looking to the future," she said.
PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION
