After over six months of intense rehabilitation to her knee, Monette last month decided to retire from gymnastics. She will long be remembered as one of Australia's best ever gymnasts. Congratulations Monette on a fantastic career, and all the best for your future.

Here is a copy of the article which International Gymnast recently posted about Monette's retirement:

Russo Reflects on Career, Retirement // May 17, 2007 Australian world medalist Monette Russo, who last week announced her decision to retire from international competition, said she plans to stay involved in the sport. Russo, 18, told IG she is retiring because of the fractured tibia that kept her out of the 2006 World Championships. "I did not officially make the decision to retire until last week, but after my leg was not getting any better after six months, that kind of made my decision for me," Russo said. "This is the second time my tibia cracked, so I know how long the first one took." Despite the injury, Russo said the decision to retire was a difficult one. "It was definitely not an easy decision—it still is not," she said. "I wake up each day still thinking it is time to go to training! I really miss my gym 'sisters,' they are my best friends. I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life and finally finishing high school. My parents struggled with this I think more than I did, but they finally said, 'Just make a decision—we will support what ever you decide,' because they saw how divided I was." Russo had a break-out performance at the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, where she helped Australia take home the team bronze, its first women's world medal. Individually she finished 12th all-around and eighth on balance beam. She was a member of Australia's eighth-place team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. At the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, she won the all-around bronze and the Longines "Prize of Elegance" award. "After 2005 Worlds I felt very proud of my accomplishments and did not know if I could top that," she said. "I am seeing how hard this group of girls on the national team is working and I did not know if I could catch up. They look really good." Australian coach Peggy Liddick said she was not surprised by Russo's decision. "Monette had been mulling over this decision for a year now," Liddick said. "I told her to take her time and make sure it is what she really wants. This sport is too hard to be in it half-heartedly." Russo said she is proud of the relationships she has with her personal coaches, Misha Barabach and Tracey Penaluna, and Liddick. "I hope to have them continue to influence me in the future," said Russo, who is now helping coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport, where she trained. Liddick said she hopes Russo, who will graduate from high school in December, will consider competing for an American university. "We will miss her huge smile in the gym," Liddick said. "She was always ready to train and gave 100 percent all the time. She has a great rapport with the rest of the national team and was a great leader. I will definitely be having her serve some sort of mentoring role in the future. Unfortunately, her ankles and knees succumbed to the rigors of gymnastics training and ultimately, would not let her continue." Russo said she can retire knowing she fulfilled her goals, but hopes she will be remembered for more than her many achievements. "I am proud to be an Olympian—this is something that I will have for the rest of my life, a special club," Russo told IG. "It was something I told my Mum I wanted when I was 6 years old. I hope I am remembered for not only what I accomplished in the gym for Australia, but also for how much I really love gymnastics. Just because I am not going to compete anymore has not changed my love for the sport."

 

Monette's website appears on the front of the November issue of International Gymnast magazine. In a cover featuring several gymnasts' internet websites, Monette's front page was selected to appear. The magazine features an article about the evolution of gymnasts' personal websites through the years.
In other news, Monette is continuing on with her knee rehabilitation. She is still on crutches, but is able to do other forms of exercise and physiotherapy.

Left: The front page of Monette Russo online ("Congratulations Netty") is featured on the front of International Gymnast's November Issue. Click on the image to view a larger version.

Monette's knee injury was officially diagnosed as a small break in the top of her tibia, but luckily there was no ligament or cartilage damage. Despite the untimely injury, Monette is staying positive and looking forward to continuing her gymnastics career. Please feel free to sign the guestbook, as Monette would love to hear your well wishes at this time.

Monette has unfortunately had to withdraw from the World Championships team, after an injury to her knee in training. Her replacement is Shona Morgan from Waverley. It is a great disappointment that Monette has to miss the Worlds in two weeks time, as she is the defending bronze medallist in the all around, and also qualified for three apparatus finals in 2005. All the best in your recovery, Monette.

Monette has successfully proved her readiness to the Australian team selectors, and has been named to the World Championships team in Aarhus, Denmark next month. Her teammates are Daria Joura (WAIS), Hollie Dykes (AIS), Karen Nguyen (VIS), Olivia Vivian (WAIS), Georgia Bonora (WAGA), and Melody Hernandez (AIS).
At the trial in Caloundra this week, Monette competed on vault, bars and beam. On day one, Monette fell on her Yurchenko 1.5 twist vault, but had strong routines on both bars and beam. On day two, she landed her vault (although a little low) but unfortunately had two falls on beam and one off bars. However, Monette still managed to finish in 3rd place on beam, 5th place on vault and 6th on bars.

Monette will travel to Queensland this week to compete in the National Clubs and World Championship Trial in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. Monette is set to compete on three apparatus, opting out of floor as her ankle is still slightly sore. The competition will be held over two days, this Sunday and Monday nights. The team to compete at the World Championships next month in Aarhus, Denmark should be announced following the second night of the Trial. Good luck Netty!
In other news, Monette recently got her drivers license. Congratulations!

Monette did not compete at the first World Championship trial in Canberra this week, due to her sore ankle. However, this will not put her qualification attempt for the World team in jeopardy, as she trained well with the Australian Squad in Canberra all week. She will continue to train for the second trial in Caloundra next month.

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY NETTY! Monette turns 18 today, so let's hope she has a great day!
Monette is training hard for the upcoming World Championship Trials and her ankle is continually improving. The training camp and first trial for the World team will be held from August 13 to 19 in Canberra, and the second and final trial will be held in conjunction with the National Clubs Championships in Caloundra, QLD on September 24 and 25.

Monette was named the 2005 Australian Senior International Gymnast of the Year at the annual Gymnastics Australia awards dinner, held in conjunction with the National Championships last week. She was also acknowledged as a FIG World Class Gymnast. Congratulations Netty!
Monette decided to miss the National Championships this year, to heal the sore ankle which affected her at the Commonwealth Games and Pacific Alliance. She will now train for the World Championships Trials in August and September.

The Australian senior womens' team has finished second at the Pacific Alliance Championships in Hawaii, behind strong powers USA. Monette competed bars and beam for the team, and qualified for the apparatus final in both. In the bars final, Monette just missed the medals by finishing fourth with 15.225, 0.15 behind third place. On beam, Monette unfortunately had a fall on her flip-layout-layout series, to score 14.550 and 5th place.

Monette has had a successful Games, despite her ankle injury. In the team event, Australia easily won the gold medal over England and Canada, and Monette qualified 2nd for the all around final behind teammate Hollie Dykes.
Unfortunately, the injury flared up a little after the team event, and Monette was a late withdrawal from the all around final. Australian Chloe Sims went on to win the gold medal, and Hollie finished third.
Monette then competed in the bars and beam finals, where she finished 3rd and 4th respectively. It was a fantastic competition for Monette and all the Aussies, being the dominant nation in the Games for gymnastics.
Monette is now looking forward to the Pacific Alliance Championships to be held in Honalulu, Hawaii, from the 13-15 April.
Please stay tuned for videos and photos from the Commonwealth Games.

The Australian Commonwealth Team competed in a friendly dual competition with the Welsh team yesterday, held at the AIS in Canberra. Monette competed on all apparatus, however watered down her routines substantially. It is still up in the air as to whether she'll compete in the all around in Melbourne, but bars and beam look to be a certainty. Just 6 days to go!

Monette is training hard at the pre-Commonwealth Games training camp in Canberra, getting ready for next week's competition. Monette is suffering from a slightly jarred ankle, and it is not known whether she will be able to compete in the all around competition at the Games. However, she should be fine to compete at least bars and beam. We wish Monette and the rest of the Aussie team a fantastic preparation, and all the best at the Games! The girls compete in the team competition on the evening of Friday, 17th March.

Monette was nominated for two categories in the 26th Annual Australian Sport Awards this week. The first was for the Female Athlete of the Year, and the second was the Young Australian Female Athlete of the Year. While she missed out in the Female Athlete of the Year category, Monette was a finalist in the Young Australian Female Athlete along with swimmer Lisbeth Lenton and surfer Stephanie Gilmore. The awards took place tonight in the Ballroom at the Sydney Convention Centre. Libby Lenton won the final, but congratulations to Netty for placing in the top three!

Monette has been named to the Australian Commonwealth Games team, despite missing the selection trials. She will join the team of Chloe Sims, Ashleigh Brennan, Naomi Russell and Hollie Dykes for the Games, in Melbourne next month. All the best to the entire Australian team in the lead up to the Games!

HISTORY MADE IN MELBOURNE!
Monette has made history at the World Championships in Melbourne, with Australia's highest ever all around placing - a bronze medal! She backed up her fantastic qualifying performance by duplicating her third place finish, just behind the two Americans Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin. Monette's performance is without a doubt the most stellar result this country has seen in gymnastics, and all the hard work and preparation paid off.
Monette also qualified for the bars and beam finals, in 7th and 3rd place respectively. She was second reserve for the floor final, however two injury withdrawals saw her compete in her third final. Monette just missed out on the vault finals - with an unfortunate error on her second vault. Never before has a single Australian competed in more than one final in a World Championships, and Monette was in three! She again hit all three routines in the finals - despite the excitement of winning a medal earlier - to finish 5th on both beam and floor, and 7th in a high-quality bars final.
During the World Championships, Monette hit 11 from 11 routines - a remarkable effort. The home crowd were behind her every step of the way, and so proud with her fantastic results. Monette was also awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance - a prestigious award given to the male and female athlete who is seen as the most 'elegant' of the Championships.
A massive congratulations to Monette, you have done yourself and Australia proud. All the best for Monette's preparations for the Commonwealth Games in March, also to be held in Melbourne.

Monette has now finished her European tour, with some great success in both Germany and Scotland. First stop was Stuttgart, Germany for the DTB Cup. On the first day, Netty qualified for vault in 5th place (8.981) with a Hristakieva and brand new Podkopayeva vault (roundoff half on, pike front with a half off); 6th on bars (9.375) and 4th on beam (9.262). Floor showed the most difficulty since her injury in Athens, but a few errors gave her just 7.687 and 21st place.
The finals saw Netty finish 8th on bars (8.537), 7th on beam (8.550), and a fantastic 3rd place on vault (9.156). Congratulations Netty - her first World Cup medal!
Onto the Glasgow Grand Prix in Scotland, and qualifications were again a success for Netty. She finished the day with a 2nd place on vault (8.862), 4th on bars (9.275), 5th on floor (9.025) and 9th on beam (8.450 - fall on her flip-layout-layout series). So again three World Cup finals, and reserve for the other. A great result for Netty!
Glasgow finals saw Netty finish just out of the medals on bars (9.325, 4th) in a highly contested final, and 6th on floor (8.575). But good news again - Monette went one better to win the silver on vault! Netty scored 9.124 to finish just 0.05 behind former World Champion Oksana Chusovitina. A second World Cup medal... just days before her first.
Netty will now return to Australia, and prepare for the World Championships in three weeks time. Be sure to check out the photo gallery, where several photos of Monette competing in Europe have been added.

Monette has successfully made the Australian team for the World Championships in 6 weeks time, by winning the Australian World Trials in Caloundra this week. Despite a few errors, Monette still easily cleared the field, defeating her VIS teammate Karen Nguyen by nearly four marks. Monette also finished in first place on bars and floor, and second on beam - despite having to overcome a nasty fall in her day one routine (flip layout layout where she straddled the beam). She also finished in 4th on vault, after successfully debuting a new vault - Yurchenko half on, piked front off.
Joining Monette on the World Championships team for Australia will be Karen, Monique Blount from the AIS and Olivia Vivian from WAIS.
Monette will now train for the European Tour with Karen, where she will compete in the Glasgow Grand Prix in Scotland and the DTB Cup in Germany. Good luck to both of them!

With less than a week before the Australian World Trials in Caloundra, Queensland, Monette has been very busy. Along with national squad training camps, she has been working with Romanian choreographer Adriana Pop to create a new floor routine. Monette will debut the new routine at the World Trials next week.
Following the World Trials, a squad will be selected to train in Canberra for the World Championships. Good luck to Monette in her pursuit to making a second World Championships team for Australia!
Monette has also been selected to travel to Europe for the Glasgow Grand Prix in Scotland, and the DTB Cup in Germany - two important World Cup events to be held in October. Monette's VIS training partner Karen Nguyen will also travel with Monette.

The International Apparatus Challenge (Australia v China competition two) was another successful event for Monette, where she contested all four apparatus for Australia.
Vault saw a fantastic result for Monette, where she nailed her Yurchenko 1½ twist in the "super final" to finish a close second behind Cheng Fei (double twisting Yurchenko). Netty scored a sensational 9.60 out of 9.70! On bars, Netty qualified in first place for the super final, scoring 9.675. However, in the final, she was narrowly outdone by her Chinese competitor Liu Juan, and had to settle for second best despite upping her score to a fantastic 9.725.
Day two saw the beam and floor finals, and beam began with an unfortunate fall on her new series of flick-layout-layout. However, a 9.0 still put her in 5th place. On floor, Monette completed a great routine to score 9.30, and 4th place there.
The four scores which Netty received in Melbourne put her in excellent all around shape, with only four months until the World Championships!

Monette wins again! Over the weekend, the Australian team took on a top Chinese contingent, at the AIS Arena in Canberra. The Chinese sent a strong team, including World and Olympic all around medallist Zhang Nan, and Olympian Cheng Fei. However, Monette continued her fantastic form in 2005 by winning the all around and bronze on bars. Despite a fall from beam, she also finished 4th there, with a 9.25.
Monette has also been selected to once again take on the Chinese this weekend in Melbourne. This event will be an event finals knock-out competition, where Monette looks set to acheive more fantastic things in the lead up to the Melbourne Worlds.

Monette is the new senior Australian Champion! On the second day of all around, Monette again went through four clean apparatus, to win the title convincingly - 3 points clear of Monique Blount. She was also highest scorer on all four apparatus after both days. Congratulations Monette, a fantastic effort.
Apparatus finals were also contested on the weekend, and Monette won both golds on the bars (9.462) and beam (score currently unknown). She also placed 2nd on floor. With this result behind her, Monette will now continue her training towards the World Championships in her hometown, Melbourne, which includes a dual against China's top team in July.

Monette is well on her way to winning the senior Australian National Title in Sydney this week. Day one of competition was the team event, and half of the all around total. Monette finished in first place last night, with an excellent score of 37.15. Netty was also the highest scorer on each apparatus, and was over two points higher than second place (Monique Blount). The second day of the all around will be contested tomorrow night, and the apparatus finals on Sunday. Monette has a great chance of sweeping all five gold medals. Go Netty!

Monette qualified in 3rd place to the beam final in the Ghent World Cup with 9.225, but unfortunately fell in the final to place 5th (8.662). She also finished 16th in the bars competition. We have added a video of Monette's awesome routine in the beam final - which would have easily placed second without the fall (next time!!).
Now returned to Australia, Monette will hope to become Australian National Champion this week in Sydney. As the only Athens Olympian competing, Monette is the big favourite to win the senior all around crown. All the best Monette!

Monette has been selected to represent Australia at the Ghent World Cup in Belgium next week. All the best to Monette, and her teammate Lynn Silcock.

With her leg healed, and months of training behind her, Monette travelled up to Brisbane for the Australia vs Ukraine dual over the weekend - and found herself as the leader of the Aussie team. Her results did not disappoint, despite not quite having full difficulty back into her routines. Monette finished 3rd all around, and helped her team to a win. On the second day, Monette claimed gold on both bars and beam, a fantastic effort which will set her up well leading into next month's National Championships, and later on the World Championships.
In other exciting news, Monette was featured on the front page of Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper, where a large photo of her posing on beam appeared the day before the International Challenge began (see picture at right).

After a lengthy trip overseas, which you can read about in Monette's online diary, Monette has now returned home and is back in the gym. She is currently rehabilitating the leg injury which hampered her performance in Athens, but is keen for another big year in 2005.

Monette has finished competing in the 2004 Olympic Games, and represented Australia with courage. Prior to the competition, the Australian team lost Danielle Kelly with a calf muscle, who was replaced by Monette's VIS teammate Karen Nguyen. Monette sustained a stress fracture in her shin, which hampered her performance incredibly. However, Monette battled on for the team, and helped bring in some great performances.
In the team qualifications, Australia narrowly qualified for the team final in 8th place, where Monette competed all four apparatus. She also qualified for the all around, but unfortunately missed out on any apparatus finals. She had a fall on beam, but otherwise a great round of competition despite her year of injuries.
In the team final, unfortunately Australia had a few errors and could not improve their ranking of 8th place. However the standard of competition in Athens was so high that just making the final is a great achievement. So well done girls. Monette only performed on bars for the team in the final, and unfortunately didn't have her best routine. Two falls resulted in an unfortunate score of 8.125.
Due to the leg injury, Monette was forced to withdraw from the all around final, a very disappointing moment. However, her VIS teammate Stephanie Moorhouse was able to compete, and did extremely well - finishing in 20th place. Allana Slater did even better, and came an excellent 10th. Allana also made the beam final, and finished 8th after another unfortunate fall.
Despite a few mistakes, the girls are very happy with the results, and are having a fantastic time in Athens. Since the gymnastics concluded, the girls have enjoyed their time in the Olympic village, meeting many famous athletes, and Australian singer Delta Goodrem. They also went to see an episode of "The Dream in Athens" - Australian comedians Roy and HG's TV show.
Well done girls, and hope you enjoyed the Olympic experience. Australia is very proud of you and we wish you a safe trip home.

Monette has now returned from her lengthy overseas endeavours, and has achieved some fantastic results. First of all, Monette was the best performer of the Australian team at the World Championships in California, USA - finishing 12th all around and 8th in the beam final. In addition Monette helped the Australian team to win their first ever team medal, where they won the bronze behind the USA and Romania. It was an exciting and historic moment for Australian gymnastics.
Following the World Championships, Monette travelled to Japan for the Junior International competition, in which she won the all around competition. In the apparatus finals Monette also won golds for bars, beam and floor, and placed equal 4th in the vault final.
A huge congratulations to Monette in completing a successful season in 2003, you are an amazing talent and we wish you all the best for even more success leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games.