1952 in sports
See also: 1951 in sports, other events of 1952, 1953 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
- NASCAR Championship - Tim Flock
- AAA Racing:
- Troy Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500
- Chuck Stevenson won the season championship
- Formula One Championship - Alberto Ascari of Italy
- 24 hours of Le Mans:
- Hermann Lang / Fritz Reiss won, driving a Mercedes 300SL
- Rally racing:
- Sydney Allard / George Warburton won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Allard J2
- Drag racing - In cities and towns across North America, drag racing begins to move from the streets to organized events usually at abandoned airport strips.
- January 31: The Hall of Fame elects two new members: Harry Heilmann, with 203 votes, and Paul Waner with 195. Waner, a .333 career hitter, rapped out 3,152 hits and struck out just 376 times in 9,459 career at-bats. Heilmann was similarly skilled with the bat, winning four batting titles with the Tigers and finishing his career with a .342 average
- World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 3 over the Brooklyn Dodgers
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Kansas wins 80-63 over St. John's
- NBA Finals:
- Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 3 over the Syracuse Nationals
- June 25 at Yankee Stadium, Joey Maxim defeats Sugar Ray Robinson by knockout to retain his world light heavyweight title. This is the only knockout Robinson would ever suffer.
- September 23 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 16 October-18 October, Delhi - Pakistan plays its first Test match, against India. India won by an innings and 70 runs.
- Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
- Tour de France - Fausto Coppi of Italy
- World Cycling Championship: Heinz Müller of Germany
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
- Women's champion: Jacqueline du Bief, France
- Pairs champions: Ria Falk & Paul Falk, Germany
- World Championships in Ice Dancing introduced as part of the World Figure Skating Championships
- NFL Championship: Detroit Lions win 17-7 over the Cleveland Browns
- Victorian Football League
- Geelong wins the 56th VFL Premiership (Geelong 13.8 (86) d Collingwood 5.10 (40))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Roy Wright (Richmond) and Bill Hutchinson (Essendon)
- Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts win 21-11 over the Edmonton Eskimos
- England - FA Cup: Newcastle United win 1-0 over Arsenal
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - Sam Snead
- June - US Open - Julius Boros
- July - British Open - Bobby Locke
- August - PGA Championship - Jim Turnesa
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Julius Boros - $37,033
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Dalray
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Epigram
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Nuccio
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Thirteen of Diamonds
- Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Meadow Rice
- Hambletonian for trotters won by Sharp Note
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
- Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
- Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 0 over the Montreal Canadiens
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Canada defeated the United States
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's Olympic Gold Medal:
- Downhill: Zeno Colo, Italy
- Slalom: Othmar Schneider, Austria
- Giant Slalom: Stein Eriksen, Norway
- The women's Olympic Gold Medal:
- Downhill: Trude Jochum-Beiser, Austria
- Slalom: Andrea Mead Lawrence, United States
- Giant Slalom: Andrea Mead Lawrence, United States
- Schism in snooker means two world championships are held:
- World Snooker Championship (World Matchplay): Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 38-35
- World Snooker Championship (BA&CC event): Horace Lindrum beats Clark McConachy 94-49
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup: Australia wins 4-1 over the United States in world tennis.
- 1952 Summer Olympics takes place in Helsinki, Finland
- United States wins the most medals (76), and the most gold medals (40).
- Emil Zátopek wins marathon.
- 1952 Winter Olympics takes place in Oslo, Norway
- Norway wins the most medals (16), and the most gold medals (7).
Births
- January 11 - Ben Crenshaw, golfer
- January 12 - John Walker, New Zealand middle distance runner
- January 18 - Wim Rijsbergen, Dutch soccer player and manager
- January 22 - Karen Moe, American swimmer
- February 2 - Jeff Archibald, New Zealand field hockey player
- February 15 - Carla Beurskens, Dutch athlete
- February 15 - Arthur Parkin, New Zealand field hockey player
- February 19 - Freddy Maertens, Belgian cyclist
- February 28 - Pat Ryan, New Zealand boxer
- February 29 - Jaime Arbós, Spanish field hockey player
- March 22 - Bob Costas, sports announcer
- March 27 - Jan Albers, Dutch field hockey player
- March 29 - Teofilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
- April 10 - Hugo Broos, Belgian soccer player and manager
- April 25 - Jacques Santini, French soccer manager
- May 3 - Christine Prinsloo, Zimbabwean field hockey player
- May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian soccer player
- June 11 - Trevor Laurence, New Zealand field hockey player
- June 13 - Jean-Marie Dedecker, Belgian judo coach
- June 18 - Ron Steens, Dutch field hockey player
- August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentinian soccer player
- August 3 - Wojtek Fibak, Polish tennis player
- August 7 - Kees Kist, Dutch soccer player
- August 9 - Rui Jordão, Angolan-born Portuguese football player
- August 17 - Nelson Piquet, Brazilian Formula 1-driver
- August 17 - Guillermo Vilas, Argentinian tennis player
- September 2 - Jimmy Connors, American tennis player
- September 18 - Ton Buunk, Dutch water polo player
- September 25 - Ray Clarke, English soccer player
- October 6 - Jerzy Engel, Polish footballer and coach
- October 14 - Nikolai Andrianov, Soviet/Russian gymnast
- November 8 - Jan Raas, Dutch professional cyclist
- November 12 - Juan Arbós, Spanish field hockey player
- November 17 - Ties Kruize, Dutch field hockey player
Deaths
- January 17: Detroit Tigers owner Walter O. Briggs dies at the age of 74. His son will succeed him in the presidency.
- March 30: Deacon Phillippe, Major League Baseball player (1899-1911)
- July 3: Fred Tenney, Major League Baseball player (1894-1911)
- August 30: Arky Vaughan, Major League Baseball player (1932-1948)