Forte retired temporarily, not competing during the 2004–2005 season due to chronic back injury, but returned after a year and a half away, citing her ongoing love for the sport.

[2] She finally made it back to Nationals in 2008-2009, by which point she was competing as a senior, the oldest skater in the ladies competition.

[3] In the 2009–2010 season, Forte intended to represent Azerbaijan, although, due to paperwork issues, she never had an opportunity to actually compete on its behalf.

[5] Though unusual for a skater to add new jumps to her repertoire so late in her career, Forte included a triple flip in her short program for the first time at the 2011 Liberty Summer competition, and is working on adding a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination for the 2011-12 competitive season.

[7] Before the start 2013-2014 competitive season, Joelle suffered a major setback to her training due to an infection in her right ankle which caused her to be hospitalized for a week.