Peter Whiteside (23 June 1952 – 14 April 2020) was a British modern pentathlete.^[1] He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics,^[2] and he was the British Modern Pentathlon champion in 1985.^[3] He died from complications due to COVID-19.^[4]

Whiteside was born in Marton, Middlesbrough, England in 1952.^[1] He excelled in swimming when he was young, winning multiple races in the north east of England.^[1] In 1969, he joined the Royal Air Force as a mechanic, taking up pentathlon four years later.^[1] In 1977, he moved over to the British Army working for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.^[5] Here he worked with Jim Fox, who had won the gold medal as part of the Great Britain team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.^[6] Later in 1977, Whiteside finished in second place in the British Modern Pentathlon Championship, just behind Olympian Danny Nightingale.^[1] Whiteside again finished in second place in 1983,^[1] before winning the British title in 1985.^[7]

Whiteside competed in the modern pentathlete at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.^[1] In the individual event, he finished in 21st place,^[8] and finished in eighth place in the team event.^[9]

In 1983, Whiteside was involved in a fencing accident that resulted in the death of his opponent, John Warburn.^[10] The pair were training in a practice session when part of Whiteside's blade entered Warburn's neck.^[10] The coroner recorded the death with the verdict of misadventure, with the death being the first in the history of British fencing.^[10]

Following his career in the army, Whiteside went on to become a coach at the Reading Fencing Club.^[1][7] He later became the Director of Fencing at several international pentathlon tournaments.^[5] In 2007, Whiteside moved to Cyprus,^[5][3] running a business in the sports nutrition sector.^[1] However, the following year, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.^[1] Despite having a successful operation, another tumour appeared in 2016.^[1] This left him with brain damage and requiring the use of a wheelchair.^[1] He returned to England in 2018 for further care, but died of COVID-19 in April 2020.^[5] He was remembered in the In Memoriam section of the 2020 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony.^[11]