See also: 1951 in sports, other events of 1952, 1953 in sports and the list of 'years 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.

• 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
• March 22 - Bob Costas, sports announcer
• March 29 - Teofilo Stevenson, boxer
• May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentinian footballer

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)