1952 in sports

1952 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

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

Georgia Tech wins national college football championship

Association football

England

• First Division – Manchester United win the 1951–52 title.
• FA Cup – Newcastle United beat Arsenal 1–0.

Italy

• Serie A – FC Juventus.

Australian rules football

• 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 Hutchison (Essendon)

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|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.
• August 11 – death in a road accident of Dave Sands (26), Australian Aborigine middleweight rated third in the world at the time
• September 23 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Canadian football

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

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

Field hockey

• Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Helsinki, Finland
  • Gold Medal: India
  • Silver Medal: The Netherlands
  • Bronze Medal: Great Britain

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
  • Ladies' champion: Jacqueline du Bief, France
  • Pair skating champions: Ria Falk & Paul Falk, Germany
  • Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain

• In this year, ice dancing introduced as part of the World Figure Skating Championships.

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Sam Snead
• U.S. Open – Julius Boros
• PGA Championship – Jim Turnesa
• British Open – Bobby Locke
• PGA Tour money leader – Julius Boros – $37,033

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Harvie Ward
• U.S. Amateur – Jack Westland

Women's professional

• Women's Western Open – Betsy Rawls
• U.S. Women's Open – Louise Suggs
• Titleholders Championship – Babe Zaharias
• LPGA Tour money leader – Betsy Rawls – $14,505

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

Horse racing

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Mont Tremblant
• Grand National – Teal

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Dalray
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Epigram
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Nuccio
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Thirteen of Diamonds
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Thunderhead II
  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

Ice hockey

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada defeated the United States
• Stanley Cup – Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 0 over the Montreal Canadiens
• 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
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – Michigan Wolverines defeat Colorado College Tigers 4–1 in Colorado Springs, Colorado
• November 1 – Hockey Night in Canada makes its television debut on CBC. It is the oldest sports-related TV program still airing.

Motor racing

• NASCAR Championship – Tim Flock in a Hudson Hornet
• AAA Racing –
  • 30 May – Troy Ruttman wins the 36th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the Agajanian Special Kuzma-Offenhauser
  • Chuck Stevenson wins the season championship^{[citation needed]}
• Formula One – Alberto Ascari (Italy) is World Drivers' Champion, driving for Ferrari
• June 14–15 – Hermann Lang / Fritz Reiss share a Mercedes-Benz 300SL to win the 20th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Rally racing –
  • Sydney Allard / Guy Warburton wins 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.

Professional wrestling

• World Wrestling Entertainment is founded by Vincent J. McMahon and Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt.

Rugby league

• 1952–53 European Rugby League Championship / 1951–52 European Rugby League Championship
• 1952 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1952 NSWRFL season
• 1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1951–52 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby union

• 58th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales who complete the Grand Slam

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
• Men's Olympic Gold Medals:
  • Downhill: Zeno Colò, Italy
  • Slalom: Othmar Schneider, Austria
  • Giant Slalom: Stein Eriksen, Norway
  • Women's Olympic Gold Medals:
  • 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 event): Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 38–35
  • World Snooker Championship (BACC event): Horace Lindrum beats Clark McConachy 94–49

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Hjalmar Andersen (Norway)

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Ken McGregor (Australia) defeats Frank Sedgman (Australia) 7–5, 12–10, 2–6, 6–2
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Thelma Coyne Long (Australia) defeats Helen Angwin (Australia) 6–2, 6–3

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Frank Sedgman (Australia) defeats Jaroslav Drobný (Egypt) 4–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–2
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) defeats Louise Brough Clapp (USA) 6–4, 6–3

France

• French Men's Singles Championship –
• French Women's Singles Championship –

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship –
• American Women's Singles Championship –

Davis Cup

• 1952 Davis Cup –  Australia 4–1  United States at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre (grass) Adelaide, Australia

Volleyball

• Men's World Championship in Moscow, Soviet Union
  • Gold Medal: Soviet Union
  • Silver Medal: Czechoslovakia
  • Bronze Medal: Bulgaria

Olympic Games

• 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).

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Bob Mathias, Track and field
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Maureen Connolly, Tennis

References