How Olympic Gold Medalist Chantelle Newbery Was Rebuilding Her Life

Olympic champion Chantelle Newbery appeared to be rebuilding her life, with steady employment and a permanent home, before her arrest over historic drug-related allegations brought her back into custody.

The 49-year-old former diving star appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday for sentencing on 19 alleged offences, including drug and drug-pipe possession as well as driving under the influence.

Dressed in a white Puma shirt and grey tracksuit trousers, Newbery listened closely as her lawyer, Robert Burns, sought an adjournment. She made history as Australia’s first female Olympic diving gold medallist.

Mr Burns said he had acted for Newbery on a number of occasions, but she had represented herself after being arrested on August 25. He told the court he had not yet been able to properly meet with her and discuss the matters before Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

“She was held in a watch house in Brisbane for some days until she was transferred to the women’s prison, so I’ve not been able to secure a conference with her,” he said.

“I spoke with her briefly this morning … she’s anxious to have the matter dealt with.”

Speaking outside court, Mr Burns told the Daily Mail that Newbery had made genuine progress since her previous drug-related charges attracted attention three years ago. He said she now had an income, support from her family and was “making good progress”.

Although he could not comment directly on the current court allegations, Mr Burns said Newbery had been “quite saddened and disappointed” after she was charged and remanded in custody over matters dating back about a year.

“I think it’s fair to say that anybody who has made considerable progress after enduring a period of adversity, only to have to revisit these types of matters, would feel quite saddened and disappointed about the whole thing,” he said.

“Because she’s been making good progress — if she hadn’t, I wouldn’t continue to be looking after her.”

Newbery faced addiction after reaching the pinnacle of her sporting career and has previously served time in prison for theft and drug offences stretching back 12 years.

Before 2023, she asked Mr Burns to keep her medals in safe custody, fearing former associates involved with drugs could take them. The collection includes three gold, four silver and two bronze medals won at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games and World Aquatics Championships between 1998 and 2006.

Three years on, the lawyer continues to hold the medals for safekeeping.

Mr Burns said Newbery’s extraordinary sporting record had always reinforced his belief that she could overcome her past and be rehabilitated.

“Chantelle worked very, very hard to achieve what she did for this country,” he said.

“She represented the country at the highest level and accomplished something no Australian woman had done before her. That does not happen without dedication, commitment and hard work.”

Mr Burns said Australians put Olympians on a pedestal, and there’s an expectation that they stay there even when their sporting careers are over.

‘But people fall on hard times,’ he said.

‘Just because somebody rises to the ranks of an Olympian doesn’t mean that they are not without the struggles and the difficulties that average ordinary people face.’

He said there’s a lot of support while athletes are building their careers, and practically none when it’s all over.

Newbery herself previously told A Current Affair that winning gold at Athens was the greatest moment in her life, but it was difficult to cope with post-Olympic blues.

‘A lot of athletes struggle after the Olympics,’ Newbery said in 2014.

‘You’re working your whole life towards a goal and then whether you achieve that goal or you don’t, it comes to an end.

 ‘It’s a big change in your life and I think we all struggle with it.’ 

No bail application was made on Thursday, and Newbery was taken back into custody once the matter was adjourned.

She has not yet entered a plea for charges including drug possession, possession of pipes or utensils, stealing, driving under the influence, failure to appear in court, and driving without a licence.

Other charges include possessing property suspected of being used in relation to a drug offence, and unlawfully possessing a relevant substance.

Mr Burns previously told the Mail that Newbery ‘detests’ the life she fell into.

He said Newbery had not developed the means to pull herself out of a drug-addled world ‘that has become a normal existence for her’, but he believed she could be rehabilitated.

‘It became evident that she wasn’t getting the support that she needed – she needed help, and she needed stability. She’s a good person with a heart of gold.

‘She’s a very intelligent and a very well-meaning person and she was in a cycle that she found hard to break free from.’

Her matter will return to court on October 1.