1952 in sports

Auto Racing

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.

Baseball

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

Basketball

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

Boxing

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.

Cricket

16 October-18 October, Delhi – Pakistan plays its first Test match, against India. India won by an innings and 70 runs.

Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
Tour de France – Fausto Coppi of Italy
World Cycling Championship: Heinz Müller of Germany

Figure Skating

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

Football (American)

NFL Championship: Detroit Lions win 17–7 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

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)

Football (Canadian)

Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts win 21–11 over the Edmonton Eskimos

Football (Soccer)

England – FA Cup: Newcastle United win 1–0 over Arsenal

Golf

Men's Golf

Grand Slam of golf results:
1. May – The Masters – Sam Snead
2. June – US Open – Julius Boros
3. July – British Open – Bobby Locke
4. August – PGA Championship – Jim Turnesa

PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Julius Boros – $37,033

Women's Golf

US Women's Open – Louise Suggs

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

Australia – Melbourne Cup – Dalray
Canada – Queen's Plate – Epigram
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Nuccio
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes – Thirteen of Diamonds

English Triple Crown Races:
1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes – Thunderhead
2. Epsom Derby – Tulyar
3. St. Leger Stakes – Tulyar

United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Hill Gail
2. Preakness Stakes – Blue Man
3. Belmont Stakes – One Count

Harness Racing

Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Meadow Rice
Hambletonian for trotters won by Sharp Note

Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Avian Derby

Ice Hockey

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

Skiing

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

Snooker

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

Tennis

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
1. Australian Open – Ken McGregor
2. French Open – Jaroslav Drobny
3. Wimbledon championships – Frank Sedgman
4. US Open – Frank Sedgman

Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open – Thelma Long
2. French Open – Doris Hart
3. Wimbledon championships – Maureen Connolly
4. US Open – Maureen Connolly

Davis Cup: Australia wins 4–1 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

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.