{{short description|Welsh sprinter (1933–2002)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Use British English|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Nick Whitehead<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}}}</small> | image = | image_size = | caption = | nationality = British (Welsh) | sport = Athletics | event = Sprints | club = Birchfield Harriers | birth_date = 29 May 1933 | birth_place = Wrexham, Wales | death_date = 6 October 2002 | death_place = Newport, Wales | height = 180 cm | weight =71 kg | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport| Men's athletics }} {{Medal|Country| {{GBR2}} }} {{Medal|Competition| Olympic Games}} {{Medal|Bronze| 1960 Rome | 4 × 100 m relay}} {{Medal|Country| {{WAL}} }} {{Medal|Competition| British Empire and Commonwealth Games }} {{Medal|Bronze| 1962 Perth | {{nowrap|4 × 110 yd relay}}}} }}
'''Neville Joseph Whitehead''' also known as '''Nick Whitehead''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (29 May 1933 – 6 October 2002) was a Welsh sprinter and sports administrator.<ref name="independent">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nick-whitehead-613841.html |title=Nick Whitehead: Olympic sprinter and influential sports administrator |date=12 October 2002 |newspaper=The Independent |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804101031/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nick-whitehead-613841.html |archivedate=4 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Biography == Whitehead was born in Wrexham and ran 9.9 secs during the 1957 season.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000104/19580125/207/0009 |title=Slender Welsh Hopes of Games Sprint Win |work=Western Mail |p=9 |date=25 January 1958 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref> He represented the Welsh team<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thecgf.com/results/games/3034/71/all |title=Wales Cardiff 1958 |website=Commonwealth Games Federation |access-date=12 October 2025 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115055851/https://thecgf.com/results/games/3034/71/all |url-status=dead }}</ref> at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, where he competed in the men's 100 yards event and helped Wales secure a fifth place finish in the final of the men's 4 × 110 yards relay with Ron Jones, Dewi Roberts and John Morgan.
He competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome in the 4 × 100 metres relay where he won the bronze medal with his teammates Peter Radford, David Jones and David Segal.
Whitehead went to a second Commonwealth Games when he represented the 1962 Welsh team<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004986/19620816/010/0010 |title=Welsh team for Empire Games |work=Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition) |date=16 August 1962 |p=10 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=23 November 2025}}</ref> at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19620816/154/0019 |title=The Family Affair |work=Daily Mirror |p=19 |date=16 August 1962 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=23 November 2025}}</ref> where he participated in three events; the 100 yards race, the 220 yards race and the 4 × 110 yards relay.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thecgf.com/results/games/3035/71/all |title=Wales Perth 1962 |website=Commonwealth Games Federation |access-date=23 November 2025 |archive-date=18 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018075442/https://thecgf.com/results/games/3035/71/all |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> He won the bronze medal with Ron Jones, Berwyn Jones and David England in the relay.<ref name="times">{{cite news|first=Harold|last=Abrahams|title=Snell wins disappointing mile|newspaper=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers Limited|location=London|page=22|date=2 December 1962}}</ref><ref name="independent"/>
He would later teach Physical Education at Carnegie Physical Training College in Leeds, now part of Leeds Metropolitan University. He was overall team manager of the British athletics team. He became director of the National Coaching Foundation and eventually Director of Development at the Sports Council for Wales (now Sport Wales).<ref name="independent"/> He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1985 New Year Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49969 |date=31 December 1984 |page=11 |supp=y}}</ref> He died, aged 69, in Newport, Pembrokeshire.<ref name="independent"/> He had a son Simon and two daughters; Jane and Rachel.
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Nick}} Category:1933 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Welsh men sprinters Category:British men sprinters Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for Wales Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Sportspeople from Wrexham Category:Welsh Olympic competitors Category:Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic bronze medalists in athletics Category:Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen