Jean Whitehead

For the Welsh sprinter, see Jean Whitehead (sprinter).

Jean Whitehead

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	Q3. 1937 Southport, England
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	long jump
Club	Liverpool Harriers London Olympiades AC

Jean Whitehead (born 1937) is a female former athlete who competed for England.

Biography

Whitehead was educated at Southport High School and joined Liverpool Harriers & AC in 1953 ^[1] and aged just 18 established a new record of 18 ft 9ins (5.71 m) in winning the Northern Senior title in 1955. ^[2]

Whitehead finished third behind Jean Desforges in the long jump event at the 1954 WAAA Championships ^{[3] [4]} and repeated the performance twice more at the 1956 WAAA Championships and 1957 WAAA Championships but this time behind Sheila Hoskin and Christina Persighetti respectively. ^{[5] [6]}

Whitehead represented England ^[7] in the long jump at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. ^{[8] [9]}

In 1962 she was teaching physical education at Finchley School. ^[1]

References

1. "Jean Whitehead London Olympiades" . Liverpool Echo. 10 May 1962. p. 14. Retrieved 22 November 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Club history" (PDF). Liverpool Harriers & AC.
3. "Diane is a Real Smasher" . Sunday Mirror. 20 June 1954. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
5. "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
6. "Schoolgirls Jolt Olympic Jump Star" . Weekly Dispatch (London). 7 July 1957. Retrieved 19 February 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Marion jumps into Games" . Daily Mirror. 12 June 1958. p. 20. Retrieved 28 September 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
9. "1958 Athletes". Team England.