1952 Southern 500, Background
The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval. The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees. Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.


1952 Southern 500, Background
Darlington has something of a legendary quality among drivers and older fans; this is probably due to its long track length relative to other NASCAR speedways of its era and hence the first venue where many of them became cognizant of the truly high speeds that stock cars could achieve on a long track. The track allegedly earned the moniker The Lady in Black because the night before the race the track maintenance crew would cover the entire track with fresh asphalt sealant, in the early years of the speedway, thus making the racing surface dark black.


1952 Southern 500, Background
Darlington is also known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" because drivers can run lap after lap without a problem and then bounce off of the wall the following lap. Racers will frequently explain that they have to race the racetrack, not their competition. Drivers hitting the wall are considered to have received their "Darlington Stripe" thanks to the missing paint on the right side of the car.


1952 Southern 500, Race report
Seven cautions were waved for forty laps in front of 32,400 audience members. The race's speed was 74.512 miles per hour (119.915 km/h) and 88.550 miles per hour (142.507 km/h) as the pole position speed. This race was constantly threatened to be postponed because of rain and was red flagged once because of actual rainfall. It took six hours, forty-two minutes, and thirty-seven seconds for the race to reach its conclusion, making it the longest Southern 500 ever; Fonty Flock was the winner. He would stop on the front straight, climb up on his hood and lead the entire crowd in singing his own version of the classic Southern American song Dixie.


1952 Southern 500, Race report
Flock's uniform would consist of Bermuda shorts and argyle socks in addition to a pencil-thin moustache reminiscent of Clark Gable.


1952 Southern 500, Race report
Total winnings for this race were $23,855 ($229,672 when adjusted for inflation). Sixty-six drivers competed; all of them were born in the United States. Jim Paschal was the last place driver of the race; finishing in 66th with an engine problem on lap 18. Jimmy Ingram flipped his vehicle over on lap 91. In four attempts this was Tommy Thompson's best finish at Darlington. There were 12 different manufacturers in this race. Johnny Patterson's awesome 2nd place finish in his second start would prove to be his best in the Cup series. As well as the best finish for owner H.B. Ranier, father of Harry Ranier.


1952 Southern 500, Race report
Ranier-Lundy Racing and Petty Enterprises were the only non-independent racing teams to show up for this race.


1952 Southern 500, Race report
Tony Bonadies, Johnny Bridgers, Merritt Brown, Johnny Gouveia, Keith Hamner, Possum Jones, Pete Kelly, Banjo Matthews and Joe Weatherly made their NASCAR Grand National Series debut in this event. Roy Hall, Rudy Hires, Jimmy Ingram, Bill Miller, E. C. Ramsey and Rollin Smith would never race in professional stock car racing after this race. W. E. Baker, Al Conroy, Al Fleming and Herb Fry would make their only NASCAR appearances at this race. Red Vogt, Julian Buesink and B.B. Blackburn were the three notable crew chiefs at this event.


1952 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
The 1952 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament was held in Raleigh, North Carolina from May 15 through May 18. The South Division's top seed Duke won their second tournament title. Duke coach Jack Coombs spent the tournament in the hospital with a kidney ailment. He would retire after the school year.


1952 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding
The top two teams from each division participated in the tournament. The table below represents the most complete conference standings available, but the teams below all fielded baseball teams within the Southern Conference.


1952 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1952 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 6–8, 1952 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The North Carolina State Wolfpack, led by head coach Everett Case, won their seventh Southern Conference title and received the automatic berth to the 1952 NCAA Tournament.


1952 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
The top eight finishers of the conference's seventeen members were eligible for the tournament. Teams were seeded based on conference winning percentage. The tournament used a preset bracket consisting of three rounds.


1952 Southern Illinois Salukis football team
The 1952 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University (now known as Southern Illinois University Carbondale) in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1952 college football season. Under first-year head coach William O'Brien, the team compiled a 2–6 record. The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.


1952 Southport by-election
The 1952 Southport by-election was held on 6 February 1952 after the incumbent Conservative MP Robert Hudson was elevated to a hereditary peerage. The Conservative candidate was Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh, a former mayor of Southport. The Labour party selected 32-year old Alan Tillotson, an executive of the Bolton Evening News. Hubert Bentliff, who had been the Liberal party's candidate at the previous year's general election, ran again for the party.


1952 Southport by-election
The campaign focused mainly on issues arising from the general election, which had brought the Conservatives to power after six years of Labour government. For the Conservatives the focus was on the cost of living: "we are applying the brakes to arrest the disastrous fall in the buying power of the pound ... we are determined to put a stop to the creeping inflation which is not only eating into our social services, pensions and savings, but destroying our capacity to import the food and raw materials by which we live".


1952 Southport by-election
Labour insisted that the Conservatives had won the general election by blaming the party for all the difficulties of the post war period: "They now admit ... that they were caused by circumstances outside the control of any Government" and warned that cuts in social services "might foreshadow more serious attacks on the welfare State in the Budget".


1952 Southport by-election
With turnout down around 10,000 votes from the general election, the Labour vote declined slightly, Liberal support fell by nearly 4,000 and Conservative votes by nearly 6,000.. The result was a comfortable majority for the Conservatives in a constituency that they had only twice failed to win since the beginning of the century.


1952 Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs football team
The 1952 Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented the Southwestern Louisiana Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) in the Gulf States Conference during the 1952 college football season. In their second year under head coach Raymond Didier, the team compiled a 5–2–2 record.


1952 Soviet Class B
Following are the results of the 1952 Soviet First League football championship. FC Lokomotiv Kharkov winning the championship.


1952 Soviet Class B, Relegation play-off
To the play-off qualified the champion of the 1952 Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR and the worst Ukrainian team of masters of the 1952 Soviet Class B.


1952 Soviet Cup
The 1952 Soviet Cup was an association football cup competition of the Soviet Union.


1952 Soviet Top League
14 teams took part in the league with FC Spartak Moscow winning the championship.


1952 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1952 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix was the eighth and final round of the 1952 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 5 October 1952 at the Montjuïc circuit.


1952 Speedway National League
The 1952 National League Division One was the 18th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.


1952 Speedway National League, Summary
Norwich Stars joined the league. Wembley Lions won their fourth consecutive title and their seventh overall. Birmingham recorded their highest league finish to date by taking the runner-up spot.


1952 Speedway National League, Summary
While riding for Wimbledon, on 22 July 1952 the American Ernie Roccio was killed after crashing into the fence at high speed at West Ham Stadium, it has been reported that he died instantly but the newspaper report states he died in hospital.


1952 Speedway National League, National Trophy Stage Three
The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Harringay won the third and final stage and were therefore declared the 1952 National Trophy champions.


1952 Speedway National League Division Two
The 1952 National League Division Two was the seventh post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.


1952 Speedway National League Division Two, Summary
The post-war boom was now fading and the League was shortened to 12 teams with Division Three now defunct and continued only on a regional basis. Previous champions Norwich Stars had been promoted to Division One. Newcastle, Walthamstow and Halifax had closed whilst Fleetwood Flyers changed to Fleetwood Knights and ran only open meetings. Poole Pirates were the only new entrant, promoted from the former lower tier.


1952 Speedway National League Division Two, Summary
Poole Pirates won the title, having won Division Three in the previous season.


1952 Speedway National League Division Two, National Trophy Stage Two
The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Poole won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.


1952 Speedway Southern League
The 1952 Southern League was the first season of the newly created regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. From the defunct National League Division Three of the previous season, only Poole Pirates did not join the new league. Ipswich Witches and Southampton Saints were new entrants.


1952 Speedway Southern League
Rayleigh Rockets were champions whilst Long Eaton Archers withdrew mid-season.


1952 Speedway Southern League, National Trophy Stage Three
The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Plymouth won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.


1952 St. Louis Browns season
The 1952 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 64 wins and 90 losses. This was the franchise's penultimate season in St. Louis.


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Regular season
In 1952, Rogers Hornsby, an alleged former member of the Ku Klux Klan, took over as manager of the Browns. Despite past accusations of racism, Hornsby was less hesitant to use pitcher Satchel Paige than Indians manager Lou Boudreau had been four years before. Paige was so effective that when Hornsby was fired by Browns owner Bill Veeck, his successor Marty Marion seemed not to want to risk going more than three games without using Paige in some form.


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Regular season
By July 4, with Paige having worked in 25 games, Casey Stengel named him to the American League All-Star team, making him the first black pitcher on an AL All-Star team. The All-Star game was cut short after five innings due to rain and Paige never got in. Stengel resolved to name him to the team the following year. Paige finished the year 12–10 with a 3.07 ERA for a team that lost ninety games.


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 St. Louis Browns season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season
The 1952 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 71st season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 61st season in the National League. The Cardinals went 88–66 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League.


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season
Following his acquisition during the offseason, Eddie Stanky was named player-manager and eased himself out of the lineup over the course of the season.


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1952 Stanford Indians football team
The 1952 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University in the 1952 college football season. The team was led by head coach Chuck Taylor in his second year and played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.


1952 Stanford Indians football team
After winning the conference and making it to the Rose Bowl in the previous season, the team was ranked #13 in preseason polls. After winning their first four games, the team lost five of the last six games, including a 26–0 Big Game shutout—its worst loss to rival California in more than half a century—to finish well out of the conference championship.


1952 Stanford Indians football team
Running back Bob Mathias, who had won his second gold medal in the decathlon earlier in the summer at the 1952 Summer Olympics, was Stanford's only 1953 NFL Draft selection.


1952 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1952 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens in the first of the four Detroit-Montreal Finals series of the 1950s. The Canadiens were appearing in their second straight Finals series, while Detroit was returning after winning in 1950. The Red Wings won the series 4–0, shutting out the Canadiens twice and allowing one goal in each of the other two games. By doing so, the Red Wings became the first team to go perfect in the playoffs.


1952 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals
Detroit defeated the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 to reach the Finals. Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins 4–3 to reach the Finals.


1952 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries
Terry Sawchuk posted two shutouts in his Cup Finals debut. Gordie Howe scored two goals in his Cup Finals debut. The Red Wings would go through the playoffs undefeated, a feat that has been replicated only once since: in 1960, the Canadiens would go 8–0 against first the Chicago Black Hawks and then the Maple Leafs en route to their record fifth consecutive Stanley Cup.


1952 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup engraving
The 1952 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Sid Abel by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Red Wings 3–0 win over the Canadiens in game four.


1952 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup engraving
The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup


1952 Star World Championship
The 1952 Star World Championship was held in Cascais, Portugal in 1952.


1952 Star World Championship, Results
Legend: DNS – Did not start; DSQ – Disqualified; WDR – Withdrew;


1952 State of the Union Address
The 1952 State of the Union Address was given by Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, on Wednesday, January 9, 1952. It was given to both houses of the 82nd United States Congress at the same time. In it, he said these words: "If the Soviet leaders were to accept this proposal, it would lighten the burden of armaments, and permit the resources of the earth to be devoted to the good of mankind. But until the Soviet Union accepts a sound disarmament proposal, and joins in peaceful settlements, we have no choice except to build up our defenses."


1952 Sugar Bowl
The 1952 Sugar Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Maryland Terrapins at the Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 1952. It was the eighteenth edition of the annual Sugar Bowl football contest. Tennessee represented the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in the contest, while Maryland represented the Southern Conference.


1952 Sugar Bowl
In the first quarter, Maryland scored on a two-yard touchdown run Ed Fullerton, giving the Terrapins a 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Fullerton threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Bob Shemonski, as the Terrapins built a 14–0 lead. Jack Scarbath scored on a one-yard touchdown run making it 21–0. Tennessee got on the board with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Payne to Rechichar as the score was 21–6 at halftime. In the third quarter, Fullerton scored on a 46-yard interception return making it 28–6. In the fourth quarter, Tennessee's Payne scored on a 2-yard touchdown run making the final score 28–13. Ed Modzelewski was named the game MVP.


1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (Finnish: Kesäolympialaiset 1952; Swedish: Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (Finnish: XV olympiadin kisat; Swedish: Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 (Swedish: Helsingfors 1952), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.


1952 Summer Olympics
After Japan declared in 1938 that it would be unable to host 1940 Olympics in Tokyo due to the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War, Helsinki had been selected to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were then cancelled due to World War II. Tokyo eventually hosted the games in 1964. Helsinki is the northernmost city at which a summer Olympic Games have been held. With London hosting the 1948 Olympics, 1952 is the most recent time when two consecutive summer Olympics Games were held entirely in Europe.


1952 Summer Olympics
They were also the Olympic Games at which the most world records were broken until they were surpassed by the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Thailand, and Saarland made their Olympic debuts at the 1952 Games. The United States won the most gold and overall medals.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
Inspired by the success of the Swedish 1912 Olympics, Finnish sports fans began to arouse the idea of their own Olympic Games: for example, Erik von Frenckell publicly presented his dreams of the Finnish Olympic Games at the opening of the 1915 Töölön Pallokenttä.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
As the Olympic success continued in the 1920s, enthusiasm for one's own Olympics grew, and after the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, Finnish sports leaders began planning to build a stadium in Helsinki in 1920. Finland's main sports organizations and the City of Helsinki founded the Stadion Foundation in 1927 to get the stadium to Helsinki. In the same year, Ernst Edvard Krogius, who represented Finland on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced Finland's willingness to host the competition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
In 1930, preparations for the 1936 Games, which was accelerated by the launch of a design project for the Olympic Stadium. However, Helsinki was not a candidate in the first round in 1931, and Berlin won the competition, but Helsinki immediately registered as a candidate for the 1940 Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
Those games were awarded to Tokyo in 1936, and two years later with the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War Japan announced they were giving up the 1940 games, and four days later the IOC offered the Games to Helsinki, which agreed to take over, although there was little time left to prepare for the Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
World War II broke out on 1 September 1939, with the German invasion of Poland, which also drew Britain and France to war. Despite the aggression, the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games continued to be optimistic about the preparations for the Games. However, the Winter War, initiated by the Soviet Union on 30 November 1939, halted planning for the games. After the Winter War, the Organizing Committee decided to abandon the Games on 20 March 1940 due to the hostilities across Europe, the suspension of preparations caused by the Winter War, and the deplorable economic situation.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
At the meeting of the Finnish Olympic Committee on 20 April 1940, the Olympic Games in Finland were officially canceled. In the meantime, World War II had already expanded, with Germany occupying Denmark and fighting in Norway. Instead of the Olympic Games, Finland held a Memorial Competitions for Fallen Athletes who died in the Winter War, at the opening of which actor Eino Kaipainen recited the poem Silent Winners written by Yrjö Jylhä. The memorial competitions were held on the initiative of the sports journalist Sulo Kolka.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Host city selection
At the end of World War II, London was awarded the 1948 Summer Olympics after the city was originally granted the 1944 Games, which were canceled due to the war. Helsinki continued its attempt to have the Games organized and registered as candidates for the 1952 Games. At the IOC Congress in Stockholm on 21 June 1947, Helsinki was chosen as the host city, over the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the United States Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia were left behind in Helsinki. Helsinki's strengths included the fairly completed venues built for the 1940 Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Organising Committee
After confirmation that Helsinki would host the Games, the "XV Olympia Helsinki 1952" was established as the organizing committee of the Games on 8 September 1947. Its members were the Finnish Olympic Committee, the Finnish State, the City of Helsinki and 26 various sports organizations. The mayor of Helsinki Erik von Frenckell was elected chairman of the committee, who at the time also chaired Finnish Football Association. Akseli Kaskela, Olavi Suvanto and Armas-Eino Martola were elected Vice-Chairs. Among them, Kaskela and Suvanto were elected on political grounds as representatives of the bourgeois SVUL and the leftist TUL, Martola, on the other hand, got a former officer to lead the organization of the practical arrangements.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Organising Committee
Other members of the Organizing Committee were Yrjö Enne, Väinö AM Karikoski, Urho Kekkonen, Ernst Krogius , William Lehtinen, Aarne K. Leskinen, Eino Pekkala, Väinö Salovaara and Erik Åström. In 1948–1949, Karikoski, Kekkonen, Krogius and Lehtinen resigned from the committee, and Lauri Miettinen, Arno Tuurna and Yrjö Valkama were elected to replace them. In the spring of 1952, Ente was replaced by Arvi E. Heiskanen and as completely new members by Mauno Pekkala and Aaro Tynell.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Organising Committee
Erik von Frenckell was the chairman of the organizing committee and the other members were Armas-Eino Martola (competition director), Yrjö Valkama (sports director), Olavi Suvanto (maintenance director), Akseli Kaskela, Aarne K. Leskinen and Niilo Koskinen. In addition, the head of the central office Kallio Kotkas and the head of information Eero Petäjäniemi were involved in the competition organization.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Political situation
The international political atmosphere was tense when the Helsinki Olympics were held. When the IOC held its meeting in Vienna in 1951, many difficult topics were on the agenda. The Cold War was under way, and the situation between Israel and Arab countries, divided Germany had to be addressed as a team, and the Chinese Civil War, with the Chinese Communist Party winning, forming the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China government exiled to Taiwan.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Political situation
Four years earlier, Japan was not invited to the London Olympics from the losing states of the Second World War. The Olympic Committee of Israel had not yet been recognized, and a successor to the German Olympic Committee, which had been dissolved during World War II, had not yet been established, but all these countries already participated in the Helsinki Games, as did Saarland.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Political situation
The Cold War affected the participation of both the United States and the Soviet Union in the Games. The participation of the United States in the Games was decided only after the country had received an assessment of the political situation in Finland from its embassy in Helsinki. The Soviet Union was accepted as a member of the IOC in May 1951, and in December of the same year the country accepted the invitation to the competition, as the country's athletes were in medal condition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Political situation
Although the Soviet leadership had previously considered the Games a bourgeois event, the Helsinki Games held propaganda value. In the Soviet Union, billions of rubles were spent on coaching athletes in just one year. The Soviet Union planned to fly its athletes every day between Leningrad and Helsinki. Another option was for Soviet athletes to stay in the Soviet Porkkalanniemi garrison. However, Finland required that all competitors stay in the race village. As a compromise solution for the Eastern Bloc athletes, a second race village was established in Espoo, Otaniemi.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Political situation
The 1952 Games were also threatened with cancellation due to the deteriorating world situation. The Korean War had begun in 1950, which also caused concern in the organizing committee. At Von Frenckell's suggestion, the organizing committee decided to take out Lloyd's of London war insurance.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Construction work
Most of the venues for the competitions were completed prior to the 1940s in anticipation of successful bid attempts, but some expansion and refurbishment work was needed, including the construction of additional stands at the Olympic and Swimming Stadium. A residential area, Kisakylä (Olympic Village) was built south of Käpylä's Koskelantie to accommodate competitors. The area, which was built close to the 1940 Olympics, was already the residence of the people of Helsinki at that time. Just below the opening, the competition area was completed for the use of visitors Kumpula Outdoor Swimming Pool. Female athletes got their own race village from the Nursing College in Meilahti. The athletes of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc stayed in the Teekkarikylä in Otaniemi. The Finnish team lived on the premises of the Santahamina Army School (later the Cadet School, now the National Defence University).


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Construction work
The City of Helsinki prepared for the Olympics by building a new airport in Seutula (now Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema),  the Olympic Pier South Harbor and paving tens of kilometers of roads. The city's first traffic lights were installed at the intersection of Aleksanterinkatu and Mikonkatu in October 1951. The Palace Hotel and Vaakuna Hotels among others, were completed for the needs of the guests. However, due to the relatively low number of hotels in the city, tent villages were built for tourists in Lauttasaari and Seurasaari, among others. However, the preparations for accommodation turned out to be considerably oversized, at its best, the occupancy rate of the 6,000-seat tent village in Lauttasaari had an occupancy of only 8 per cent. With the support of the Olympia 1952 committee, Finland's first mini golf courses were completed to entertain guests.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Anthem
The International Olympic Committee had declared in 1950 that it did not have an official Olympic anthem, but that the organizers could decide their own anthems. An anthem competition was held in Finland. In the spring of 1951, a poetry competition was announced, which was surprisingly won by an unknown teacher candidate, Niilo Partanen. Second and third came the well-known poets Toivo Lyy and Heikki Asunta. These winning poems were allowed to be used in the composition competition. The selection of the 51 compositions by a jury chaired by Jouko Tolonen was also a surprise. When the winner was announced on 17 March 1952, an unknown teacher Jaakko Linjama was revealed behind the nickname, who had used Lyy's lyrics in his Olympic Hymn.


1952 Summer Olympics, Background and preparation of the Games, Anthem
The nicknames of the other contestants were not opened. This caused a stir, and the Arijoutsi, among others, doubted that the victory of the unknown would go to the honor of well-known composers. There were well-known members in the competition. The voters had identified the composing style of Uuno Klami and Aarre Merikanto, among others. The only Finnish composer who congratulated Linjamaa was Jean Sibelius, who did not take part in the anthem.


1952 Summer Olympics, Torch relay
The Olympic torch was transported by land from Olympia to Athens from where fire's journey continued in a miner's lamp donated by the Saar Olympic Committee on a SAS plane to Aalborg, Denmark. The glass cover surrounding the lamp was designed by the artist Sakari Tohka. The Olympic torch itself was designed by the artist Aukusti Tuhka.


1952 Summer Olympics, Torch relay
From Denmark, the torchlight continued by running, cycling, riding, rowing and paddling to Copenhagen, from where the fire was transported by ferry to Sweden to Malmö. The journey of the torch across Sweden was carried to Haparanda by 700 messengers, from where it continued to the Finnish side in Tornio. On the Finnish-Swedish border bridge, the torch was received by Ville Pörhölä, who brought it to Tornio sports ground. The Olympic torch from Tornio, Greece, was connected to Pallastunturi on 6 July 1952 where it ignited the “midnight sun fire”. In reality, the Pallastunturi fire was lit with liquefied petroleum gas, because the night in July was cloudy at that time and it was not possible to use the sun as a lighter. From Tornio, the torch traveled through Finland to Helsinki. It was transported by more than 1,200 people.


1952 Summer Olympics, Torch relay
Initially, the aim was to transport fire to Helsinki via the Soviet Union, but the matter was not settled through diplomacy by the deadline. The journey covered a total of 7,870 kilometres on the journey that began on 25 June and ended on 19 July 1952. The actual Olympic flame was lit for the Olympic Stadium.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the Helsinki Olympics was held on 19 July. Although the weather was rainy and chilly and the Olympic Stadium had no roof but on top of the main auditorium, the stadium was full with 70,435 spectators. The inaugural march had a record 5,469 people from 67 countries. After the march, the countries organized themselves into the central lawn, and the chairman of the organizing committee, Erik von Frenckell, spoke in Finnish, Swedish, French and English.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
President of the Republic J. K. Paasikivi gave the opening speech, which was the shortest in Olympic history and contained a mistake: it was not the "Fifteenth Olympic Games", but the XV Olympic Games and the 12th World Olympics, due to the 1916, 1940 and 1944 races had been canceled. The speech was followed by the raising of the Olympic flag and the  Olympic fanfare composed by Aarre Merikanto. The President's speech was as follows:


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
It gives me great pleasure to address a message of greeting to the young people of the world as they prepare for the fifteenth Olympic Games which are, once again, to be celebrated in a spirit worthy of the ideals of Baron de Coubertin.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
This happy cooperation between young people of all countries will serve the great call of concord and peace among the nations of the world.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
I am particularly pleased to be sending you this advance greeting because, as a young man, I was myself an enthusiastic gymnast and athlete. And I have retained throughout my life a deep interest in athletics and sports of all kinds.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
I am convinced that the Finnish people, loving sport as they do, will spare no effort to make the 1952 Olympic Games a complete success.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The Olympic flame was lit by running heroes Paavo Nurmi (to the stadium) and Hannes Kolehmainen (to the stadium tower). When Paavo Nurmi was announced to arrive at the stadium, athletes from the participating countries deviated from the formation to see the legend better. Only the lines of the Soviet Union and Finland remained in the line.


1952 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
After the Olympic flame was lit, the Archbishop Ilmari Salomies was due to say a prayer, but German Barbara Rotbraut-Pleyer, nicknamed “White Angel of the Games”, had jumped from the auditorium onto the track and ran straight to the speaker's seat. Organizers quickly removed Pleyer, who had time to say just a few words into the microphone. Pleyer's purpose was to proclaim a message of peace. Heikki Savolainen, a gymnast who was competing in his fifth consecutive Olympic games, swore the Olympic oath on behalf of the athletes.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events
There were 4,925 athletes from 69 different countries, of which the Soviet Union first participated in the Olympics and Germany for the first time since World War II. A total of 149 competitions were held in 17 different sports.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events
The biggest heroes of the Games were Viktor Chukarin of the Soviet Union, who won four gymnastics Olympic gold medals, and Czechoslovakia’s Emil Zátopek, who won three running golds. The United States achieved the most medals; 40 gold, 19 silver, 17 bronze. The host country, Finland, had 6 gold, 3 silver and 13 bronze medals.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Shooting
Shooting was competed in seven events, six of which (rifle sports) were conducted at the Malmin Shooting Range in moderately difficult wind conditions. Tough results were still fired in Helsinki, as the top four deer shooting broke world records. World records for knee position were also broken in free and small rifles. Shotgun shooting took place at the Huopalahti shooting range.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Shooting
Ten countries took medals from the shooting. Norway was the only country to win two gold medals, with the Soviet Union winning the most medals. Boris Andreyev was the only shooter in the Soviet Union to win two medals. A Finnish winner was already celebrated in a miniature rifle when Vilho Ylönen had time to play on the radio Björneborgarnas marsch. However, in an hour-long countdown, the Norwegian Erling Asbjørn Kongshaug was declared the winner of the competition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Football
The football tournament started even before the official opening, as the one-piece qualifiers took place on 15–16 July in Kotka, Lahti, Tampere, Turku and Helsinki. There were 27 countries registered for the tournament, but Saarland and Mexico dropped out before the Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Football
Hungary Golden Team won the gold when it knocked down the Yugoslavia in the final with a score of 2–0. Sweden won a bronze medal. In the final, the Olympic Stadium had 583 paid spectators, the largest number of spectators in Finland watching a football match.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Football
The first meeting between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in football is still amongst the most famous matches. On the political level, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the Yugoslav leader Josip Tito split in 1948, which resulted in Yugoslavia being excluded from the Communist Information Bureau. The origin of the conflict was Tito's refusal to submit to Stalin's interpretations and visions of politics and in process becoming a Soviet satellite state. Before the match, both Tito and Stalin sent telegrams to their national teams, which showed just how important it was for the two head of states.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Football
Yugoslavia led 5–1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5–5 draw. The match was replayed, Yugoslavia winning 3–1. The defeat to the archrivals hit Soviet football hard, and after just three games played in the season, CSKA Moscow, who had made up most of the USSR squad, was forced to withdraw from the league and later disbanded. Furthermore, Boris Arkadiev, who coached both USSR and CDKA, was stripped of his Merited Master of Sports of the USSR title.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Basketball
23 teams entered basketball, ten of which made it directly to the actual tournament. The remaining 13 countries took the final six places in the Olympic tournament before the official opening of the Olympic Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Basketball
In basketball, gold was won by the United States, who defeated Soviet Union 36–25. The final match was relatively slow-paced, as the Soviet Union tried to keep up with the United States by freezing the game. The United States had already clearly defeated the Soviet Union 86–58 in the tournament. The bronze was won by Uruguay, who also organized a mass battle in the tournament after being dissatisfied with the referee's work.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Field Hockey
Field hockey was included in the Helsinki Olympic Games in the range of sports on the condition that a maximum of 12 teams register for the Games. In the end, 16 teams applied for the competition, from which the International Field Hockey Federation selected 12 countries to participate in the competition venue. Eventually, four countries dropped out of the Games, so anyone was able to take part in the Olympic tournament.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Field Hockey
The tournament started with two rounds before the Games opened, and the final match was held on July 24. India and Netherlands met in the Velodrome final with India winning its fifth consecutive gold under captaincy of Kunwar Digvijay Singh with a score of 6–1.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Canoeing
Canoeing competitions were held Taivallahti 27–28 July. There were a total of 159 participants in eight men's and women's only races, coming from 21 countries.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Canoeing
Canoeing was a celebration in Finland, as four of the nine sports went to the host country. In addition, the Finns took one silver and a bronze. The double gold medalists were Kurt Wires and Yrjö Hietanen who won the kayak duo's 1,000 and 10,000 meters. In the only women's sport, the 500-meter kayak unit, gold was taken by Sylvi Saimo, who was the first Finnish female gold medalist in the summer competitions. The second most successful country in kayaking was Sweden, which won one gold and three silver.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Fencing
Helsinki Olympics fencing competitions were held on the Espoo side of the Westend Tennis Hall. The men competed with Épée, sabre and foil in both personal competition and team competition. The women had only a personal competition for foil in the program. There were 250 men and 37 women from 32 countries.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Fencing
Italy, Hungary and France were, as usual, the best fencing countries and took all the gold medals. A total of six countries reached medals. The Mangiarot brothers Edoardo and Dario took a double victory over the film. Hungarian swordsmen won a triple victory over the preserve.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Modern Pentathlon
The Modern pentathlon Olympic competitions was held at Ahvenisto Hämeenlinna. A total of 51 competitors from 19 countries entered the sport. For the first time in Olympic history, the sport also included a team competition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Modern Pentathlon
Sweden, Hungary and Finland shared the medals. Sweden's Lars Hall won the individual competition, and Hungary was the best in the team competition. Before Hall, all Olympic winners of the sport have been officers. However, Hall was a carpenter by profession.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Boxing
Töölö Sports Hall held Olympic boxing between 28 July to 2 August in ten weight classes. There were a total of 240 participants. A total of 17 countries won medals. The most successful boxing country was the United States, which won five gold. The Soviet Union won the most medals, but its boxers did not win a single championship. Finnish boxers reached five medals. In the middle series, the American Floyd Patterson knocked out Romanian Vasile Tiță in a record-breaking 42 seconds. The American Norvel Lee, who won the heavyweight series, was awarded as the most technical boxer in the Games. In the heavyweight series Ed Sanders got gold when the Swedish Ingemar Johansson was rejected for his passivity. Johansson did not receive his silver medal until 1982.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Wrestling
Wrestling was held in Helsinki in eight weight classes in both Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling. All finals were held in the larger Exhibition Hall I, but freestyle wrestling events were held in the smaller Exhibition Hall II. Free button competitions were held on 20–23. July, and Greco-Roman wrestling matches took place on 24–27 July.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Wrestling
The most successful wrestling country was the Soviet Union, whose athletes won six gold and a total of ten medals in the sport. Sweden dominated free wrestling and received the second highest number of medals in wrestling overall. The overwhelming athlete in wrestling was the Soviet Johannes Kotkas, who competed in the heavy series of Greco-Roman wrestling. He managed to beat all his opponents in less than five minutes.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Weightlifting
The Olympic weightlifting competition was held in seven weight classes with 141 competitors. Initially, there were to be only six weight classes, but a light heavyweight series was also added to the program, as a result of which the weight limit for the heavyweight series increased from 82.5 kilograms to 90 kilograms. The addition of the new weight class took place so late that there was no time to change the race program. Weightlifting was carried out according to plan at the Exhibition Hall on 25–27 July.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Weightlifting
All seven gold medals were awarded to athletes from the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviets won a total of seven medals, but the Americans took four championships, while the Soviets only took three. A total of five world records were set in weightlifting. In the heavyweight series John Davis continued his superiority, Davis had not lost a single event since 1938 and continued with his victory in Helsinki as well.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Sailing
The competition took place in the waters of Helsinki from 20 to 28 May in five different categories. Larger boats sailed in front of Harmaja lighthouse lighthouse island, and the Finn race was held near Liuskasaari. A total of 93 crews from 29 countries took part in the competition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Sailing
The United States, Norway and Sweden took three medals. The United States was the only country to reach two gold medals in sailing. In the Finn that developed from the Firefly class, the Danish Paul Elvstrøm won the overwhelming championship. The gold medal was the second in Elvstrøm's career. He later became the first athlete to win the same sport four times in a row.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Cycling
In cycling, medals were awarded in six sports, four for track cycling and two for road racing. In total, 214 competitors from 36 countries took part in the cycling. Track cycling competitions were held from 29 to 31 July and road driving on 2 August.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Cycling
A total of seven countries collected medals and gold medals went to Italy, Australia and Belgium. Italy was the most successful country with five medals. Two gold medals went to Australian Russell Mockridge, who won the championship in the kilometer time trial and with his partner in tandem racing, and the Belgian André Noyelle, who won the 190 kilometer road race personal competition and team competition.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Equestrian
Equestrian was competed in dressage, Eventing and show jumping in person and in team competition in a total of six sports. Eight countries won medals in horseback riding, and Sweden was by far the most successful country. The Swedes won both races in both dressage and field riding.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Equestrian
For the events in first time non-military officers including women were allowed to take part in dressage events in Helsinki. In a show jumping, Danish Lis Hartel, paralyzed from her knees down, was the first woman to win a riding medal after finishing second in the Olympics.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Rowing
Rowers competed in seven sports from the 20th to the 23rd of July. The competition was held in Meilahti, as Taivallahti, where the canoeing competitions took place, was too open to the sea breeze. There were a total of 409 entrants from 33 countries.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Rowing
Representatives from fourteen countries won medals, and only American rowers won two gold medals. The youngest Olympic winner of the Games was seen in Rowing. In the coxswain duo, the French winning team included 14 years old Bernard Malivoire.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Diving
Diving competed in a total of four men's and women's events. The United States led the events, as nine of the 12 medals in the distribution went to the country. In addition to the United States, only France, Mexico and Germany won medals in the sport. Patricia McCormick won Olympic gold in the women from both the three-meter springboard and the ten-meter floor jump.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Swimming
At the Helsinki Swimming Stadium men competed in six sports and women in five sports. High-level competitions were held from July 25 to 2 August. Summer Olympics in London had resulted in significant progress in the sport, and every Olympic record was broken in each event.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Swimming
The Americans dominated men's events and the Hungarians dominated women. Both countries won four gold medals. Ford Konno was the most successful swimmer with two gold medals and one silver. In the women's events Katalin Szőke won two gold medals and Éva Novák two silver in addition to the gold medal. The only world record in the Games was set by the Hungarian women's 4 × 100 meter freestyle message team. The Helsinki Olympics, was the last instance where competitors could participate in Breaststroke in the butterfly stroke. In the men's events, no athlete swimming in the breaststroke style made it to the finals. In women, Novák won silver.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Water polo
A total of 21 countries took part in the water polo tournament. The initial series of the Games was to be played in the offshore pools, but due to the coolness of the water, the International Swimming Federation ordered all the matches to be played at the Swimming Stadium. Because of this, some of the matches in the first series had to be played as early as six in the morning.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Water polo
The water polo championship was decided in the final block, where the four teams faced each other once. Hungary and Yugoslavia ended in a draw after winning two other matches and playing 2-2 each other. Hungary won gold with a better goal difference.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Gymnastics
The 1952 Olympic gymnastics was dominated by the Soviet Union, which participated in the Games for the first time with athletes winning nine gold medals and took a total of 22 medals. Finland, Germany and Switzerland, who previously dominated the gymnastics at the Olympics, were content with more modest success. A total of fifteen medals were awarded, eight men's and seven women's sports.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Gymnastics
The most personal medals in gymnastics were taken by Viktor Chukarin in the men's events and Maria Gorokhovskaya in the women's events. Chukarin won four gold and two silver. Gorokhovskaya won medals in every women's sport. Her seven-medal catch (two gold and five silver) is a record for one women's Olympics.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Athletics
Athletics was competed in 33 sports, 24 for men and 9 for women. By far the most successful state was the United States, which won 31 medals, nine of which were gold. The Soviet Union reached 17 medals, but won only two championships, and the eight-medal country Germany was left without first places. The second medalist was Czechoslovakia, with four of the five medals being the brightest.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Athletics
Emil Zátopek won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, as well as the marathon, which he had never run before. On the women's side, the Australian Marjorie Jackson won the 100 and 200 meter runs. World records were set in seven events. In the triple jump Adhemar Ferreira da Silva broke the old world record four times. In the decathlon, Bob Mathias made a new ME and took the victory with a total score of 7,887 points, more than 900 points to the next. Josy Barthel of Luxembourg pulled a major surprise by winning the 1500 m.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Demonstration sports
According to the Olympic rules, the organizer of the Games was allowed to choose between two types of demonstration sports, one from abroad and one from Finland. In connection with the Helsinki Games, a handball and baseball match was held. In the handball match of the Games, Sweden and Denmark faced at the Olympic Stadium. The level of playing outside was modest due to heavy rain. Sweden won by a goal from 19 to 11.


1952 Summer Olympics, Sports Events, Demonstration sports
The baseball match was also played at the Olympic Stadium. The Finnish Baseball Federation and Finnish Workers' Sports Federation teams competed in the event. The Baseball Federation won the match 8–4. During the breaks in both shows, the audience was entertained by the performances of Finnish male and female gymnasts.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
With an annual average temperature of 5.9 °C (42.6 °F), Helsinki is one of the coldest cities to have hosted the Summer Olympics.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
Most of the competition venues were located in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Modern pentathlon and some field hockey games were held in Hämeenlinna and some football games by Tampere, Lahti, Kotka and Turku.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
The main arena was the Olympic Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics competitions, football semi-finals and finals, as well as the show jumping competition “Prix des Nations” were held. The stadium was built for the 1940 Olympics and opened as early as 1938, but had suffered under the bombing of World War II. It had to undergo expansion and refurbishment work. The concrete auditorium section was expanded and a new temporary wooden auditorium was built on the south and north curves and on the east side, which increased the Stadium's audience capacity to about 70,000.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
The swimming competitions were held at Helsinki Swimming Stadium, located just a few hundred meters east of the Olympic Stadium and with three pools: a racing, diving and children's pool. The swimming stadium could accommodate about 9,500 spectators, while the wooden eastern and standing stands for the Games could accommodate a total of about 6,000 people. The Fair Hall near the stadiums (now Töölö Sports Hall) many of the indoor events were held in two separate halls. In the bigger hall, men competed in gymnastics, wrestling and boxing. The smaller hall hosts the women's gymnastics, freestyle wrestling, weightlifting and basketball finals. Basketball first round matches were played at Tennis Palace and fencing competitions were held at the Westend tennis center in Espoo.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
The shooting events took place at the Malmi shooting range 11 kilometers from the center of Helsinki, with the exception of clay pigeon shooting. Clay pigeon shooting was performed on the Finnish Hunters' Association track Huopalahti. Ruskeasuo competed in dressage as well as in Tali and Laakso in field riding.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
The Töölö Rowing Stadium was built for rowing and canoeing events one kilometer from Taivallahti. However, the place was not accepted as a place for rowing competitions, as it was open to the sea breeze. The rowing took place in Meilahti about three kilometers from the Stadium. The place was considerably more sheltered than Taivallahti. Harmajan on the lighthouse island a couple of kilometers off the coast of Helsinki was the starting and finishing area for larger sailing classes. Finn was the starting and finish point of the race Liuskasaari close to the coast.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
The Marathon running route was north of the Stadium to Käpylä, Pakinkylä, Tuomarinkylä, Vantaa, Tikkurila and Korso. In Tuusula, Mätäkivenmäki there was a turning point from which the runners set off on their way back to the Stadium. The 50-kilometer walk was organized along the same route. A memorial stone was later erected at the turning point along Old Tuusulantie.


1952 Summer Olympics, Venues
A swimming stadium was built in Hämeenlinna for Åland for the pentathlon. The other four pentathlon events were also held in the vicinity of Åland.


1952 Summer Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
A total of 69 nations participated in these Games, up from 59 in the 1948 Games. Thirteen nations made their first Olympic appearance in 1952: The Bahamas, the People's Republic of China, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Netherlands Antilles, Nigeria, Soviet Union (USSR), Thailand, and Vietnam.


1952 Summer Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
Japan and Germany were both reinstated and permitted to send athletes after being banned for 1948 for their instigation of World War II. Due to the division of Germany, German athletes from Saar entered a separate team for the only time. Only West Germany would provide athletes for the actual German team, since East Germany refused to participate in a joint German team.


1952 Summer Olympics, Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1952 Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, 50th anniversary coin
The 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Olympic Games was the main motif for one of the first Finnish euro silver commemorative coins, the €10 silver coin minted in 2002. The reverse depicts part of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, as well as a section of the 1952 500 markka coin. The obverse has lettering SUOMI FINLAND 10 EURO, a flame, and Finland is the only country highlighted on Earth.


1952 Summer Olympics, Admission tickets
In total 2,394,099 admission tickets were printed for the Helsinki games. About two million of them were made Bank of Finland banknote printing works. To prevent counterfeiting, tickets were printed on watermark banknote paper. Printing began in July 1951 and lasted four months.


1952 Summer Olympics, Admission tickets
In early 1952, the race organizers opened their own ticket offices for sales at home and abroad. They were sold abroad in 52 different countries. Half of the more than two million admission tickets were put up for sale abroad. However, only about 250,000 tickets were sold. However, foreign tourists also bought a lot of tickets from Finland. A total of 1,376,512 tickets were sold for various competition events. There were four different price categories. Prices varied between 300 and 2,100 FIM, which in current currency corresponds to about 9–65 euros. Ticket revenue totaled approximately FIM 965 million, or EUR 29.7 million.


1952 Summer Olympics, Admission tickets
Entrance tickets were printed in ten different colors, depending on the venue and the auditorium. Except for the color, the flags were all similar in appearance. The texts in Finnish, Swedish, English and French were printed on them, and the sport was also indicated by a symbol in the upper left corner. A spectator map was printed on the back of the entrance tickets. Tickets sold to Finland only marked their Price Category, foreign tickets also marked the price US Dollars.


1952 Summer Olympics, Admission tickets
In addition to tickets made by the organizers, the City of Hämeenlinna printed its own entry tickets for modern pentathlon competitions held locally. They were simpler in design than other flags.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
The Olympics influenced the Finns, the City of Helsinki and the image of foreigners. The Olympics can even be considered a symbolic decision for the post-war years in Finland. Reconstruction of the land was practically completed in 1952, although at the beginning of the decade many had lived in temporary housing. The last war reparations was paid in September 1952, and regulatory policy was abolished at the same time.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
On the closing day of the Games, 3 August 1952, President J.K. Paasikivi wrote in his diary: "The Olympics were a great success. Foreigners, including the magazines, have praised the good organization. This is a good thing and advertising for us."


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
Helsinki cityscape was clearly a new impetus for the Olympics. The development of Helsinki had already begun in the late 1930s, when Parliament House, Lasipalatsi and Pääposti were built. Olympic dreams motivate many construction projects. Helsinki's entertainment and nightlife was modest compared to previous race hosts. Many temporary restaurants and entertainment venues were set up in the city for the Games. The city had been planning a fair for decades, but even for this project, the Olympic host gave the final impetus.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
After the competition was confirmed, the city of Helsinki started looking for a place for an amusement park in Alppila. The  Linnanmäki Amusement Park was opened on 27 May 1950 on a plot leased in December 1949. The Olympics also developed Helsinki's infrastructure with the construction of a new airport, Olympic Pier, new asphalt and the city's first traffic lights.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
The impact of the Olympics on Finns is difficult define. It was certainly good for Finns' self-confidence to create a successful major event together and at the same time get a new kind of contact with the interaction between peoples. For the first time, many Finns were in contact with non-Caucasian foreigners at the Games. At the same time, the Olympics united Finns in their disputes. For example, Finnish Workers' Sports Federation and Finnish National Sport Federation strong disputes between were on a break during the Olympics, even though they continued even after the Games.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
With internationalization, new products also arrived in Finland. The best known of these is Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola arrived in Finland as early as the 1930s through Stockmann). In addition, chewing gum was imported for the first time, and Alko launched new drinks, including Gin Long Drink.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy
Finland's relations with United Kingdom clearly warmed up thanks to the Olympics. This was particularly influenced by the fact that Prince Philip, who came to visit the Games, received a warm welcome in Finland. After the Second World War, Britain had been rude to Finland, but the Olympics showed that Finland belonged to the Western world.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy, "The Last Real Olympics"
In Finland, the Helsinki Olympics are sometimes called the last real Olympics, when trying to emphasize the nature of the Games as the last Games of the true Olympic spirit, a sporting and non-commercial event. For example, a book about competitions written by Antero Raevuori is named after this saying. However, the phrase was invented in Finland and is not used elsewhere in the world. It was developed at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, when doping began to become more widespread in sports, 1972 Summer Olympics the Munich massacre, and the 1976, 1980 and 1984 the Summer Olympics were widely boycotted.


1952 Summer Olympics, Impact and legacy, "The Last Real Olympics"
In a way, the Helsinki Olympics were a return to smaller competitions due to resources, as Finland is the smallest country to host the Summer Olympics. However the 1956 Summer Olympics involved fewer participating athletes than in Helsinki, and in practice it was not until the 1970s that the Games clearly began to expand. The Helsinki Olympics were still relatively non-commercial, although the Polish press, for example, barked at the Helsinki Olympics as “competitions for disgusting traders”. The Helsinki Games were also not much smaller in terms of marketing than the following Games, and marketing was well known in the Olympic world with Kodak supporting the Games as far back as the 1896 Summer Olympics.


1952 Summer Olympics, Gallery
Paavo Nurmi enters the Helsinki Olympic Stadium carrying the torch during the opening ceremonies. He became the first well-known athlete to light the Olympic Flame.


1952 Summer Olympics, Gallery
After Jean Boiteux won the 400 m freestyle race his father jumped into the pool to congratulate him


1952 Summer Olympics medal table
This is the full table of the medal table of the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland.


1952 Summer Olympics medal table
These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC.


1952 Summer Olympics national flag bearers
During the Parade of Nations section of the 1952 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded into the arena. The Parade of Nations was organized according to the Finnish name of the country. Greece led the parade followed by Netherlands Antilles. Other countries marched by following the Finnish alphabet, except the host country, Finland, which marched last. The athletes from British Guiana and People's Republic of China were absent from the Parade of Nations, meaning only 67 nations participated in the parade.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay
The 1952 Summer Olympics torch relay was the symbolic transport of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the venue of the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, where it featured as part of the opening ceremony.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Flame
The 1952 Olympic flame was lit at a ceremony using the sun's rays in Olympia, from where it started its journey on 25 June.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Flame
On 6 July, a second flame was lit on top of the Taivaskero peak of Pallastunturi fell in the Finnish Lapland. The intention had been to ignite it with the rays of the midnight sun, but due to overcast conditions that night some additional 'tricks' were required.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Flame
This 'Midnight Sun Torch' was carried 378 kilometres (235 mi) south to the city of Tornio near the Swedish border, where it met the one from Olympia, the latter having meanwhile been carried north the length of Sweden. The two flames were merged for the remainder of their journey.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch
The torches were made of either solid silver or silver-plated brass, with a lacquered curly birch handle.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch
The fuel was liquid gas contained in a cartridge which was quick and easy to replace. For this reason, only 22 torches were needed, as well as 1,600 fuel cartridges.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch
Because of the small number produced, the 1952 torch is a rarity not found in many collections, and therefore highly collectable: at a 2011 auction in Paris, one was sold for the record price of €290,000 or nearly US$400,000.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch
The torch was designed by Finnish graphic designer and visual artist Aukusti Tuhka and manufactured by the precious metals company Kultakeskus.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The flame was carried from Olympia to Athens, from where it was flown to Aalborg, Denmark, via two intermediary stops in Germany (in Munich and Düsseldorf). There were celebrations held at each stop of the journey. This was the first time the Olympic flame was flown out of Greece.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
Next, the flame traversed Denmark over land and water by different modes of transport, finishing with crossing the Øresund strait from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
In Sweden the flame was carried overland via Gothenburg to Stockholm, where on 4 July it was kept burning overnight at the 1912 Olympics stadium. Afterwards it continued its journey north, eventually leaving Sweden by crossing the northern land border to Finland, where it was united with the 'Midnight Torch' flame on 8 July.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
Over the next ten days the torch was carried south by 1,350 runners, arriving in Helsinki on the opening day of the games, 19 July. On its final stage through the city of Helsinki, the relay procession was fronted by a police car in radio contact with the organisers at the stadium, with the intention of adjusting the relay pace as needed. Consequently, the torch arrived at the stadium with perfect timing.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The distances and methods of transport in each country were as follows:


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The total relay distance was 7,492 kilometres (4,655 mi), excluding the separate 'Midnight Sun Torch' relay from Pallastunturi to Tornio.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The route took in the cities of, among others, Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Malmö, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Uppsala, Tornio, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Tampere and Hämeenlinna, before reaching Helsinki.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
A commemorative copper medal was given to each person carrying the torch on its journey.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Lighting of the cauldron
The flame was brought to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium by the Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi, himself a winner of multiple gold and silver medals at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics. He used the torch to light a temporary cauldron on the stadium field.


1952 Summer Olympics torch relay, Lighting of the cauldron
The actual cauldron was situated on top of the stadium tower, 72 metres (236 ft) above the ground. Four players from a Helsinki football club ran up the tower with the torch, passing it to another Finnish long-distance runner, Hannes Kolehmainen, also a winner of multiple medals at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics, who finally lit the main cauldron.


1952 Sun Bowl
The 1952 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Pacific Tigers.


1952 Sun Bowl, Background
In Coach Weaver's first season, the Red Raiders had won the Border Conference title, their fourth in five seasons. This was their first bowl appearance since 1949 and first Sun Bowl since 1948. The Tigers had been ranked three times during the season (as high as 16th at one point), but a loss to Denver started a four-game losing streak that derailed a 6-1 start. This was their first bowl appearance since 1948.


1952 Sun Bowl, Game summary
Jim Turner scored on a 39-yard touchdown run to give Tech an early 7-0 lead. Pacific responded with a touchdown of their own to tie it at 7. Lewis Crossley culminated a six-play drive on his touchdown pass to Jerry Johnson from 19 yards out to make it 13-7. Junior Arterburn made it 19-7 on a five-yard touchdown run on Tech's next drive. Pacific scored on a Johnny Cobb touchdown run that culminated a nine-play drive to make it 19-14 at halftime. Charles Welton scored from 11 yards out to make it 25-14 midway through the third. From that point, neither team reached the red zone again. Eddie Macon became the first African American to play in the Sun Bowl, contributing with 60 yards on 6 carries.


1952 Sun Bowl, Aftermath
This remains the only Sun Bowl victory for Texas Tech and this was their only bowl victory inside the state of Texas until 2003. Pacific returned to the Sun Bowl the following year and won. Texas Tech has appeared in the most Sun Bowls with 9, but this remains their only win. The Red Raiders are 1-8 all time in the Sun Bowl.


1952 Swedish general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 21 September 1952. The Social Democrats remained the largest party with 110 of the 230 seats in the Second Chamber of the Riksdag and together with the Communist Party of Sweden they got 115 seats and the other parties 115 seats. Tage Erlander and his  Social Democratic Party did however form his second government with the Farmers' League already in 1951 and together with that party the Social Democrats now had a majority of 136 seats in the chamber and together with the Communists 141 seats. In the other indirectly elected chamber the Social Democrats had an absolute majority.


1952 Swedish general election
The Catalina affair had taken place a few months prior to the election and was highly debated during the time.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix
The 1952 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 18 May 1952 at Bremgarten Circuit. It was the first round of the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix
Pre -WWII Grand Prix great Rudolf Caracciola crashed heavily during a support sports car race. He survived with a broken leg, but this crash effectively ended his racing career. He was driving a Mercedes 300SL; his brakes locked up going into a corner and the car skidded off the road and hit a tree.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix
Italian driver Piero Taruffi scored his only win in a World Championship race, driving for Ferrari.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
With the withdrawal of Alfa Romeo from the World Championship, Ferrari were left as the sole competitive team under the existing regulations. It was therefore decided to run the Championship to Formula Two regulations.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
The works Ferrari team brought three drivers to the Swiss Grand Prix, namely Farina, Taruffi and Simon. Regular Ferrari drivers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi were both unavailable, the former due to his participation in the Indianapolis 500, and the latter because of his having had a road accident. Also running Ferraris were Rudi Fischer and Peter Hirt of Ecurie Espadon, and veteran Frenchman Louis Rosier. Gordini also had a three-car team for this race, consisting of Robert Manzon, B. Bira and the debutant Jean Behra.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
The HWM team, returning to the World Championship for the first time since the previous race at Bremgarten, fielded the all-British quartet of Abecassis, Collins, Macklin and Moss. Maserati had planned to enter defending World Drivers' Champion Juan Manuel Fangio and fellow Argentinian José Froilán González, but this did not come into fruition. Completing the field were the sole AFM entry of Hans Stuck and a number of privately run cars representing various constructors.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
Former Alfa Romeo driver Nino Farina took pole position, alongside Taruffi and Manzon on the front row of the grid. Simon and Fischer started from the second row, in front of Collins, Behra and Toulo de Graffenried, who was driving an Enrico Platé-entered Maserati.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
Polesitter Farina led the race until his car broke down. His Ferrari teammate assumed the lead, which he held for the remainder of the race. Moss was impressively running in third place in the early stages, behind Farina and Taruffi, before he had to stop. Moss and Macklin withdrew from the race. The main battle was between Behra and Simon, for second place (once Farina had retired). When Behra had to stop, due to his exhaust pipe having fallen off, Farina, who had taken over Simon's car, assumed second place.


1952 Swiss Grand Prix, Report
However, further problems meant that he once again had to retire, on lap 51, handing second to local driver Rudi Fischer. The Swiss driver took his first Championship podium, being the only driver not to be lapped by Taruffi, who took his first (and only) World Championship race victory. Behra completed the podium, taking third on debut, while Ken Wharton (fourth) and Alan Brown (fifth) took the first points finishes for Frazer Nash and Cooper, respectively.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition
Led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, the 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition saw Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reach a height of about 8,595 metres (28,199 ft) on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record, opening up a new route to Mount Everest and paving the way for further successes by other expeditions.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Origins
Tibet had closed to foreigners but Nepal had just opened up. In 1951 Eric Shipton's British-New Zealand reconnaissance had climbed the Khumbu Icefall and reached the elusive Western Cwm, proving that Everest could be climbed from Nepal. Unfortunately for the British, who had enjoyed exclusive access to the mountain for 31 years from Tibet to the north, the Nepalese government gave the 1952 permit to the Swiss.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Organization
Edouard Wyss-Dunant was appointed as the leader of this expedition. The other Swiss members were Rene Aubert, Leon Flory, André Roch and Raymond Lambert (despite Lambert's having suffered amputation of frostbitten toes).


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Organization
All the Swiss were from Geneva. Most belonged to the exclusive L'Androsace climbing club and knew each other well. The city and canton of Geneva provided moral and financial support for the expedition, and the University of Geneva provided the scientific contingent.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Organization
During this expedition Tenzing Norgay was considered, for the first time, a full expedition member ("the greatest honour that had ever been paid me") forging a lasting friendship with the Swiss, in particular Raymond Lambert.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Goals
The mountaineering task that this team had set itself was primarily exploring the access to the South Col, the conquest of the labyrinthine Khumbu Icefall, and possibly the advance to the South Col. John Hunt (who met the team in Zurich on their return) wrote that when the Swiss Expedition "just failed" in the spring they decided to make another (summit ascent) attempt in the autumn; though as it was only decided in June the second party arrived too late, when winter winds were buffeting the mountain. This contradicts a reference which says that "no attempt at an ascent of Everest was ever under consideration in this case".


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Ascent
Building on Shipton's experience, the Genevans reached the head of the Western Cwm and climbed the huge face above to the desolate, wind-swept plateau of the South Col. Three Swiss climbers and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay continued towards the summit, pitching a tent at 8,400 meters. Two returned, leaving Tenzing and Lambert, who had become firm friends, to make a summit attempt. High altitude mountaineering in 1952 was still in its infancy. Even Swiss organisation and technology were not up to the job and, apart from Tenzing, the Sherpas had little experience. Despite the best plans, Tenzing and Lambert now had to spend a night at 27,500 feet (8,400 m) with no sleeping bags and no stove; producing a trickle of drinking water by melting snow over a candle.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Ascent
Edmund Hillary recalled in 1953 "an incredibly lonely sight, the battered framework of the tent that Tenzing and Raymond Lambert of the 1952 Swiss expedition pitched over a year before and where they had spent an extremely uncomfortable night without food, without drink, and without sleeping bags. What a tough couple they had been, but perhaps not very well organized." Hillary thought that Tenzing and Lambert were not sufficiently hydrated, having relied on cheese and snow melted over a candle for sustenance (he insisted on everyone keeping their fluids up by melting snow on a Primus stove for water). This was also the conclusion of Griffith Pugh in 1952.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Ascent
Their oxygen sets were barely operable and when the two men continued in the morning, they were effectively climbing without oxygen. They struggled heroically, at times crawling on all fours, hindered by the dead weight of malfunctioning oxygen sets, finally grinding to a halt near 8595 m, about 250 m short of the summit. The sets gave some relief at rest but were unworkable when climbing because of the resistance of the valves to the passage of oxygen with violent breathing at high altitude.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Ascent
The autumn expedition had two new types of open-circuit oxygen equipment; the better Drägerwerk set was based on apparatus used by pilots, and the oxygen supply could be selected to be between 2 and 4 litres/minute. The Swiss might have reached the summit in the spring if the new Drägerwerk sets had been used.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Results
Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8,595 metres (28,199 ft) on the southeastern ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record (assuming that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine did not ascend any higher during their expedition of 1924).


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Results
Tenzing's experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953, during which he reached the summit with Sir Edmund Hillary.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Results
The results of this first Swiss expedition to Mount Everest were remarkable, and exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. At the first attempt, it had opened up a new route to the peak of Everest, and it had reached an extraordinary height on the southwestern ridge in difficult conditions. In the opinion of the extremely critical Marcel Kurz, this expedition was almost a victory. They had seen from closeup that the route to the South Summit had no insurmountable barriers, and only the last 90 metres (300 ft) to the summit remained unknown.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Results
The spring expedition might have reached the summit using the Draeger oxygen sets used for the autumn expedition. They established for the British that in 1953 the route should be up the Lhoste Face not the couloirs, and have a high camp(s) on the South Col (which meant more stores to be carried higher). See Appendix for comparison of the two expeditions.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Results
The expedition named the Geneva Spur rock formation, between the Western Cwm and the South Col. During the 1956 Swiss Everest–Lhotse expedition, Geneva Spur was the location of the last high camp before Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss achieved the first ascent of Lhotse summit, on May 18, 1956.


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Autumn expedition
There was a second Swiss expedition in the autumn of 1952, after the monsoon, the first serious attempt to climb Everest at that time of year (having received permission from the Nepalese government to go during the whole year). A party including Lambert, Tenzing and others made it to the South Col, but was forced back by extremely cold weather after reaching an altitude of 8,100 metres (26,575 ft). The autumn expedition was only decided in June so the second party arrived too late, when winter winds were buffeting the mountain. They held out in terrible conditions of discomfort and mental strain, but never succeeded in getting within striking distance of the summit (Hunt had decided that if the 1953 British expedition failed, they would also make another post-moonson attempt).


1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition, Appendix
A comparison of the 1952 Swiss and 1953 British expeditions.


1952 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1952 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix was the first race of the 1952 Motorcycle Grand Prix season.. It took place on 17–18 May 1952 at the Bremgarten circuit.


1952 Swiss referendums
Nine referendums were held in Switzerland during 1952. The first was held on 2 March on a federal resolution on changing the licensing requirements for new pubs, and was rejected by 54% of voters. The second was held on 30 March on a federal law on promoting agriculture and the farming community, and was approved by 54% of voters. The third was held on 20 April on a popular initiative on a "commodity sales tax", and was rejected by 81% of voters.


1952 Swiss referendums
The fourth was held on 18 May on a popular initiative "for the finance of armaments and the protection of social achievements", and was rejected by 56% of voters. The fifth was held on 6 July on a federal resolution on the coverage of expenditure on weapons, and was rejected by 58% of voters. The sixth and seventh were both held on 5 October on making an amendment to the federal law on Aged and Bereavement insurance regarding tobacco tax, and on establishing air raid shelters in buildings. The first was approved by 68% of voters, whilst the second was rejected by 85%. The eighth and ninth were both held on 23 November on a limited prolongation of some price controls and a federal resolution on bread supply. Both were approved by voters.


1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The 1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, was the eighth annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.


1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney, New South Wales, the 1950 edition began on Sydney Harbour, at noon on Boxing Day (26 December 1952), before heading south for 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) through the Tasman Sea, past Bass Strait, into Storm Bay and up the River Derwent, to cross the finish line in Hobart, Tasmania.


1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The 1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race comprised a fleet of 17 competitors. The fleet found the going very difficult, and line-honours winner Nocturne, skippered by JR Bull won in the second slowest-ever time of 6 days, 2 hours and 34 minutes. Ingrid, skippered by JS Taylor was awarded handicap honours on adjusted time using the International Measurement System (IMS).


1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, 1952 fleet
17 yachts registered to begin the 1952 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.


1952 Sylvania Television Awards
The 1952 Sylvania Television Awards were presented on December 11, 1952, at Hotel Pierre in New York City. The Sylvania Awards were established in 1951 by Sylvania Electric Products. Deems Taylor was the chairman of the judges committee.


1952 Sylvania Television Awards
No awards were made for best actor and actress, as the committee noted that the best performances came "from guest stars borrowed from the legitimate stage or motion pictures."


1952 Syracuse Orangemen football team
The 1952 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University in the 1952 college football season. The Orangemen were led by fourth-year head coach Ben Schwartzwalder and played their home games at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.


1952 Syracuse Orangemen football team
This was a historically successful season for the Orangemen, which included victories over rivals Penn State and Colgate. Syracuse lost only twice in the regular season: their season opener against the former college all-stars of the Bolling Air Force Base, and to eventual national champions Michigan State. Syracuse finished the regular season with a record of 7–2 and were ranked 14th in the final AP Poll, their first ranked finish in school history.


1952 Syracuse Orangemen football team
The team was awarded its first Lambert Trophy, which signified them as champions of the East. They were invited to the 1953 Orange Bowl after Navy refused the bid. This was the school's first ever bowl game, where they lost to Alabama in a lopsided 61–6 game.


1952 São Paulo FC season
The 1952 football season was São Paulo's 23rd season since club's existence.


1952 TANFL season
The 1952 Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) premiership season was an Australian Rules football competition staged in Hobart, Tasmania over fifteen (15) roster rounds and four (4) finals series matches between 19 April and 27 September 1952.


1952 TANFL season, Participating Clubs, TANFL Under-19's Grand Final
Note: North West affiliated to North Hobart, Macalburn affiliated to Hobart.


1952 TANFL season, Participating Clubs, Intrastate Matches
Note: This match was a curtain raiser to a VFL Premiership fixture between Fitzroy and Melbourne.


1952 TANFL season, 1952 TANFL Ladder, Round 7
Note: The Saturday match was switched from North Hobart to the TCA Ground due to poor ground conditions and inclement weather.


1952 TANFL season, 1952 TANFL Ladder, Round 9
Note: This round was postponed on 28 June due to poor ground conditions and inclement weather.


1952 TANFL season, 1952 TANFL Ladder, Round 15
Note: Bernie Waldron (Hobart) equals the TANFL record with 15.3, also a Hobart club record.


1952 TANFL season, 1952 TANFL Ladder, Grand Final
Source: All scores and statistics courtesy of the Hobart Mercury publication.


1952 TCU Horned Frogs football team
The 1952 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University (TCU) in the 1952 college football season. The Horned Frogs finished the season 4–4–2 overall and 2–2–2 in the Southwest Conference. The team was coached by Dutch Meyer in his nineteenth and final year as head coach. The Frogs played their home games in Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on campus in Fort Worth, Texas.


1952 Tampa Spartans football team
The 1952 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1952 college football season. It was the Spartans' 16th season. The team was led by head coach Marcelino Huerta, in his first year, and played their home games at Phillips Field in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of eight wins, three losses and one tie (8–3–1) and with a victory in the Cigar Bowl over Lenoir–Rhyne.


1952 Tampa Spartans football team
After the resignation of Frank Sinkwich, on March 5, 1952, Marcelino Huerta was introduced as the Spartans' new head coach. Huerta had previously served as a line coach under Sinkwich for the 1950 and 1951 seasons after he graduated from the University of Florida.


1952 Tangerine Bowl
The 1952 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played after the 1951 season, on January 1, 1952, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Stetson Hatters with a record of 7–1–2 played the Arkansas State Indians (now the Arkansas State Red Wolves) with a record of 10–1. Stetson won by a score of 35–20.


1952 Tangerine Bowl, Game summary
The first quarter of the game saw only one score; a 5-yard rush for an Arkansas State touchdown. The quarter ended 7–0, Indians.


1952 Tangerine Bowl, Game summary
The second quarter featured minimal scoring as well; Stetson tied the game after a 2–yard pass to make it 7–7, though the Indians quickly recovered and scored their second touchdown to give them back the lead. The extra point was missed, however, and the game went to halftime 13–7 with Arkansas State in the lead.


1952 Tangerine Bowl, Game summary
Stetson's offense took off in the third quarter, finding the end zone on three occasions: two passes (23 and 30 yards) and a 5–yard rush. All extra points were converted, and the Hatters took a 28–13 lead into the final quarter after their defense pitched a shutout in the third quarter.


1952 Tangerine Bowl, Game summary
The fourth quarter saw both teams score one final time, both touchdowns, and the game finished 35–20 in favor of Stetson.


1952 Tangerine Bowl, Game summary
This was the Hatters' first bowl victory in their first bowl appearance (and the only appearance to date), making them 1–0 overall in bowl games.


1952 Taça de Portugal Final
The 1952 Taça de Portugal Final was the final match of the 1951–52 Taça de Portugal, the 12th season of the Taça de Portugal, the premier Portuguese football cup competition organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The match was played on 15 June 1952 at the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and opposed two Primeira Liga sides: Benfica and Sporting CP. Benfica defeated Sporting CP 5–4 to claim their sixth Taça de Portugal.


1952 Team Speedway Polish Championship
1952 Team Speedway Polish Championship season was the fifth season and is used to determine the Team Polish Champion.


1952 Team Speedway Polish Championship, Rules
In First League, matches were played with part two teams, without it playing it matches return. Teams consisted of 6 drivers plus 2 reserves. The score of heat: 3–2–1–0. Mecz consisted with 9 heats. For winning game team received 2 points, lost – 0 points. The drivers from the main squad started in a match three times. The quantity of small points was added up.


1952 Team Speedway Polish Championship, Rules
Before the season it was established that only 4 full rounds would take place with the 5th round consisting of only the first 8 teams. After playing 5 rounds the first 4  teams played a "Play-Off" (Semi-Final and Final).


1952 Team Speedway Polish Championship, Rules
Ogniwo Bytom was moved to Łódź, and CWKS from Warszawa to Wrocław.


1952 Temple Owls football team
The 1952 Temple Owls football team was an American football team that represented Temple University as an independent during the 1952 college football season. In its fourth season under head coach Albert Kawal, the team compiled a 2–7–1 record and was outscored by a total of 221 to 128. The team played its home games at Temple Stadium in Philadelphia.


1952 Tennessee A&I Tigers football team
The 1952 Tennessee A&I Tigers football team represented Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College as a member of the Midwest Athletic Association (MAA) during the 1952 college football season. In their ninth season under head coach Henry Kean, the Tigers compiled an 8–2 record and outscored opponents by a total of 255 to 77. The Dickinson System rated Tennessee A&I as the No. 4 black college football team for 1952 with a score of 24.43, behind only Florida A&M (25.57), Virginia State (24.57), and Lincoln of Missouri (24.51). The team played its home games in Nashville, Tennessee.


1952 Tennessee Volunteers football team
The 1952 Tennessee Volunteers (variously Tennessee, UT, or the Vols) represented the University of Tennessee in the 1952 college football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Robert Neyland, in his 21st and final year, and played their home games at Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of eight wins, two losses and one tie (8–2–1 overall, 5–0–1 in the SEC). They concluded the season with a loss against Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic.


1952 Tennessee gubernatorial election
The 1952 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1952. Democratic nominee Frank G. Clement defeated Republican nominee R. Beecher Witt with 79.37% of the vote.


1952 Texas A&M Aggies football team
The 1952 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University in the 1952 college football season as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC). The Aggies were led by head coach Raymond George in his second season and finished with a record of three wins, six losses and one tie (3–6–1 overall, 1–4–1 in the SWC).


1952 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The 1952 Texas Longhorns baseball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1952 NCAA baseball season. The Longhorns played their home games at Clark Field. The team was coached by Bibb Falk in his 10th season at Texas.


1952 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The Longhorns reached the College World Series, but were eliminated by eventual champion Holy Cross in the quarterfinal.


1952 Texas Longhorns football team
The 1952 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas in the 1952 college football season.


1952 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team
The 1952 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech during the 1952 college football season.


1952 Texas Western Miners football team
The 1952 Texas Western Miners football team was an American football team that represented Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso) as a member of the Border Conference during the 1952 college football season. In its third season under head coach Mike Brumbelow, the team compiled a 5–5–1 record (2–3–1 against Border Conference opponents), finished fifth in the conference, and was outscored by a total of 235 to 228.


1952 Texas gubernatorial election
The 1952 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1952.


1952 Texas gubernatorial election
Incumbent Democratic Governor Allan Shivers was overwhelmingly reelected in the general election after defeating future Senator Ralph Yarborough in the Democratic primary. The Republican Party endorsed the Democratic state ticket, including Shivers, in order to attract more votes for their presidential nominee, General Dwight Eisenhower.


1952 Texas gubernatorial election, General election, Candidates
Shivers endorsed the Republican nominee for President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the concurrent presidential election. In an attempt to maximise support for Eisenhower, the state Republican Party nominated the Democratic state ticket, allowing voters to cast a straight G.O.P. ballot without voting against down-ballot Democratic candidates.


1952 Thai general election
General elections were held in Thailand on 26 February 1952. At the time there were no political parties, so all candidates ran as independents. Voter turnout was 39%.


1952 The Citadel Bulldogs football team
The 1952 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1952 college football season. J. Quinn Decker served as head coach for the seventh season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.


1952 Thomas Cup
The Thomas Cup competition is an international team tournament for supremacy in men's badminton (its female counterpart is the Uber Cup). Beginning in 1948-1949, it was held every three years until 1982 and thereafter has been held every two years. Twelve national teams contested for the Thomas Cup in the 1951-1952 badminton season, the tournament's second edition. According to the rules then in place Malaya was exempt from earlier ties (team matches), needing only to defend its title in a conclusive challenge round tie.