1952 in sports

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

[American football]

NFL Championship: the Detroit Lions won 17–7 over the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Stadium
Sugar Bowl :
* The Tennessee Volunteers lose 28–13 to the Maryland Terrapins; still awarded the national championship by the AP and Coaches Poll
1952 college football season:
* The Michigan State Spartans win the college football national championship

[Association football]

England

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

Spain

La Liga won by Barcelona.

Italy

Serie A won by Juventus.

Germany

German football championship won by VfB Stuttgart.

France

French Division 1 won by OGC Nice.

Portugal

Primeira Liga won by Sporting C.P.

[Australian rules football]

Victorian Football League

June 14: In an effort to promote the code outside its traditional strongholds in the southern and western states, the League holds a “National Day Round” of matches in selected interstate and country venues: Albury, Euroa, Yallourn, Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart. Despite flooding rains, attendances were high enough to deem the venture a success though it was never repeated.
Geelong wins the 56th VFL Premiership by defeating Collingwood 13.8 to 5.10 in the 1952 VFL Grand Final
Brownlow Medal awarded to Roy Wright and Bill Hutchison

South Australian National Football League

October 4: North Adelaide beat Norwood 23.15 to 6.9 in the most one-sided SANFL Grand Final until 2004.
Magarey Medal awarded to Len Fitzgerald

Western Australian National Football League

October 11: win their sixth premiership beating 12.19 to 10.10
Sandover Medal awarded to Steve Marsh

[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 over New York Knicks

Spain

Saski Baskonia was founded in Vitoria Gasteiz on December 3.

[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, Australian Aborigine middleweight rated third in the world at the time
September 23 at Philadelphia, 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]

Events

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

England

County Championship – Surrey
Minor Counties Championship – Buckinghamshire
Most runs – Len Hutton 2567 @ 61.11
Most wickets – Johnny Wardle 172 @ 19.27
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Fred Trueman, Harold Gimblett, Tom Graveney, David Sheppard, Stuart Surridge
India make a fourth tour of England, and lose the four-Test series three games to nil

Australia

Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Lindsay Hassett 855 @ 61.07
Most wickets – Bill Johnston 54 @ 20.62
The West Indies make a second tour of Australia, losing as in the first four Tests to one

India

Ranji Trophy – Bombay
England make a second tour of India, drawing the five-test series with one victory each and three draws

New Zealand

Plunket Shield – Canterbury

South Africa

Currie Cup – Transvaal

Cycling">Cycle sport">Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
Tour de France – Fausto Coppi of Italy
UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – 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.
American defending champion Dick Button becomes first figure-skater to land a triple jump in competition; performs a triple loop in the Olympic free skate in Oslo