The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
Olympic sports are sports that are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympics included 32 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by an international governing body called an International Federation (IF).
A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a single-player endeavour. In team sports, the cooperative effort of team members is essential for the sport to function and achieve its objectives. The objective often involves teammates facilitating the movement of a ball or similar bob in accordance with a set of rules in order to score points. Examples are basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, handball, lacrosse, cricket, baseball, and the various forms of football and hockey. These sports emphasize teamwork, strategy, and coordination among team members while competing against opposing teams to achieve a common goal. Team sports do not include individual or individual-to-team events within a sport.
Pesäpallo is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other places including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada's northern Ontario. It is similar to brännboll, rounders, lapta, and baseball.
Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of baseball. He was born in the vicarage of Pihtipudas, the son of the minister Alexander Gummerus. In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the University of Jyväskylä, together with president Urho Kekkonen and Professor Kaarina Kari.
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium, located in the Töölö district about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer Olympics. During those games, it hosted athletics, equestrian show jumping, and the football finals.
Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, and was first contested as a demonstration sport at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. It became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, then was played at each Olympiad through the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The sport was then dropped from the Summer Olympic program, until being revived for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for a single appearance. It is next expected to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation is a Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses on youth activities and youth education as well as offering activities regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or financial means. TUL is one of the member associations of the Finnish Olympic Committee.
Softball was on the Olympic program from 1996 to 2008. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was removed from the program for 2012 and 2016, but was added for a one-off appearance, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ireland. Athletes from Northern Ireland have the option of participating under its auspices or in the Great Britain Olympic Team. Its mission statement is "To manage and enhance the performance of Team Ireland at Olympic Games whilst developing the Olympic Movement in Ireland." In 2018 the Olympic Council of Ireland was renamed as the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Finland and many Finns visit different sporting events regularly. Pesäpallo is the national sport of Finland, although the most popular forms of sport in terms of television viewers and media coverage are ice hockey and Formula One. In spectator attendance, harness racing comes right after ice hockey in popularity.
Lloyd Monsen is a retired American soccer forward and baseball pitcher. Monsen spent eleven seasons in the American Soccer League as well as several years in the lower division German American Soccer League and National Soccer League of New York. He earned three caps with the U.S. national team between 1952 and 1957 and was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer teams at both the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
The India national baseball team is the national men's team of India in international-level baseball competitions.
The Superpesis is the highest level of the Finnish pesäpallo league system. Contested by 13 clubs in men's league and 12 clubs in women's league, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ykköspesis. Seasons usually run from May to August, with each men's team plays around 30 matches and women's team 24 matches in the regular and continuation series: two against each other, one at home and one away. After the regular season, a continuation series will be played to determine the 8 teams that make the play-offs and the teams that qualify for the knockout stage and the teams that are relegated. Games are played on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons.
Karhu is a Dutch sports equipment company based on an originally Finnish brand, focused on running. Originally established as "Oy Urheilutarpeita" in 1916, it was renamed "Karhu" four years later. Karhu's line of products includes sneakers, t-shirts and jackets. In past years, Karhu also manufactured skis. In 2008, the company was sold to a group of investors organised under "Karhu Holding B.V.". The investors responsible for operations are Dutch/American businessman Huub Valkenburg and the Arese family from Italy. Karhu Holding B.V. is based in the Netherlands and is run by Emanuele Arese.
Aalto University Sports Club, AaltoUS,, formerly known as Polyteknikkojen urheiluseura or PUS, is a Finnish sports club founded in Helsinki in 1903.
Finnish pesäpallo match-fixing scandal was a match fixing scandal in Finland that involved a large number of players, managers and other team officials of Superpesis, the top professional league of the Finnish sport of pesäpallo, a game similar to baseball.
Johan ″Jonne″ Aksel Alho was a Finnish footballer and a football referee.
The International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body for handball and field handball. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the World Men's Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938, and the World Men's Outdoor Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938. The organization was dissolved after World War II.
Helsingin Kullervo is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. The club was formed in 1919. It used to participate in number of sports including Bandy, Ice Hockey, Pesäpallo and Athletics but now concentrates only in Football. The club is a member of the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation, abbreviated as TUL. In its early days, Club was a powerhouse in TUL Sports, they won several TUL championships in Football, Pesäpallo, Bandy and Athletics.
