The 1952 Olympic canoeing program was precisely the same as it had been in 1948, with nine events, one for women (kayak singles 500 metres), and eight for men, four in kayak and four in Canadian canoes. The events were held in the Taival Bay (Taivallahti) just off the coast of Helsinki. A rowing and canoeing stadium, later named the Töölö Rowing Stadium, was built here for the 1940 Olympic Games, scheduled for Helsinki but never contested. But for 1952 the International Rowing Federation (FISA) requested that the rowing events be moved to Meilahti, because of sea breezes, although the canoeing remained in Taivallahti.

[Josef Holeček] was the reigning Olympic and World C-1 1000 Champion, as well as the most recent World runner-up in the C-1 10000, and was the heavy favorite to win gold again at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In Helsinki he was effectively unchallenged, winning his opening heat by nearly four seconds and the final by over seven. [János Parti] of Hungary took silver, while [Olavi Ojanperä] of Finland captured bronze. American [Frank Havens], who had won the C-1 10000 the previous day and had the potential to medal in this event, came in fourth.

These are the results of the men's C-1 1000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The C-1 event is raced by single-man sprint canoes. Because there were ten competitors in the event, heats were introduced. Both the heats and final took place on July 28

Both American [Frank Havens] and Canadian [Norm Lane], the 1948 Olympic silver and bronze medalists respectively, journeyed to the 1952 Summer Olympics to compete in the C-1 10000 in the hope of improving their results from London. There they would be challenged by [Robert Boutigny] of France, the reigning World Champion and 1948 Olympic bronze medalist in the C-1 1000, as well as Sweden’s [Bengt Backlund], the 1950 World bronze medalist and representative of the defending Olympic champion nation. The great [Josef Holeček] of Czechoslovakia had been the most recent World runner-up, but he did not compete in this event and his country sent [Alfréd Jindra] instead. Jindra led the race for most of the course, but tired in the final stretch and was passed by Havens and Hungarian [Gábor Novák], who won gold and silver respectively, leaving the Czechoslovakian with bronze. Havens father Bill had been selected to represent the United States as a rower at the 1924 Summer Olympics, but elected to remain home in order to be with his wife when she gave birth to Frank and never again got the opportunity to compete at the Games. Thus, according to the International Olympic Committee, “[a]fter celebrating his victory, Havens sent his father an emotional telegram that read: ‘I'm bringing home the gold medal that you should have won.’”

Reigning Olympic and World Champions [Jan Brzák-Felix] and [Bohumil Kudrna] of Czechoslovakia returned to the Games in 1952 in the hopes of defending their crown in the C-2 1000. Brzák-Felix and Kudrna were also the most recent World Champions in the C-2 10000, while Brzák-Felix, a 1936 C-2 1000 Olympic champion, had won gold and silver in the C-2 10000 and C-2 1000 respectively at the 1938 World Championships. Their strongest challengers were likely to be [Armand Loreau] and [Georges Dransart] of France, the reigning World runners-up in both events, and the latter of whom had been an Olympic bronze medalist in 1948. France won its heat in the opening round, but the Czechoslovakians were defeated by the Danish duo of [Peder Rasch] and [Finn Haunstoft], who finished in Olympic record time. In the final, France seemed to have the lead, but a series of mistakes saw them drift into another lane and be overtaken by the Danes, Czechoslovakians, and Germans [Egon Drews] and [Wilfried Soltau], who crossed the line in that order. France meanwhile, missed the podium by only 0.3 seconds, while Drews and Soltau captured their second bronze medal of the tournament, having won their first the previous day in the C-2 10000.

These are the results of the men's C-2 1000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The C-2 event is raced by two-man sprint canoes. Because there were eleven teams in this event, heats were introduced. Both the heats and final took place on July 28.

[Oldřich Lomecký] and [Bohuslav Karlík] were the most recent World bronze medalists in the C-2 10000, but were also representing the World Champion nation of Czechoslovakia at the 1952 Summer Olympics, who had won the event in 1950 with [Jan Brzák-Felix] and [Bohumil Kudrna], competitors in the C-2 1000 in Helsinki. Karlík and Brzák-Felix had also been the 1938 World Champions in the C-2 10000 and runners-up in the C-2 1000. France’s [Armand Loreau] and [Georges Dransart] were the reigning World runners-up in both disciplines, but they took part in the C-2 1000 and left this event to [Georges Turlier] and [Jean Laudet]. It was the Canadian pair of [Ken Lane] and [Don Hawgood], however, who led the race for most of the course, being passed only at the end by Turlier and Laudet, who captured the gold medal. The Canadians thus settled for silver while the German duo, [Egon Drews] and [Wilfried Soltau], took bronze. The Germans would win another bronze medal the next day in the C-2 1000.

These are the results of the Men's C-2 10000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The C-2 event is raced by two-man sprint canoes. Heats and final took place on July 27.

[Gert Fredriksson] of Sweden, the reigning Olympic champion in the K-1 1000 and 10000, was the favorite to defend both of his titles at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was also a multiple World Championship medalist from 1948 and 1950, with the most relevant for the Olympic K-1 1000 being his title in the event from 1950. Finland’s [Thorvald Strömberg], meanwhile, was the current World runner-up. Fredriksson came in third in his heat in the opening round, behind Strömberg and [Lev Nikitin] of the Soviet Union, while the other heats were won by [Rik Verbrugghe] of Belgium and [Wim van der Kroft] of the Netherlands, the latter of whom was a bronze medalist from the 1936 Olympic K-2 1000. In the final, Fredriksson took command of the race at the halfway point and never relented, winning the gold medal and leaving silver for Strömberg, a reversal of their fortunes from the previous day’s K-1 10000. France’s [Louis Gantois], meanwhile, edged out van der Kroft for the bronze medal.

These are the results of the men's K-1 1000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The K-1 event is raced by single-man canoe sprint kayaks. Heat and semifinals took place on July 28

[Gert Fredriksson] of Sweden, the reigning Olympic champion in the K-1 1000 and 10000, was the favorite to defend both of his titles at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was also a multiple World Championship medalist from 1948 and 1950, with the most relevant for the Olympic K-1 10000 being his silver medal in the event from 1950. Finland’s [Thorvald Strömberg] had been the one to deny him the title and would be looking to repeat this feat in Helsinki. Other notable entrants included Austria’s [Alfred Schmidtberger], a 1950 World bronze medalist in the K-4 10000, and Denmark’s [Ejvind Hansen], a 1948 Olympic silver medalist in the K-2 1000. Strömberg and Fredriksson were fairly close for most of the race, but the former pulled ahead in the final stretch of the course by undertaking a drive against which the latter had no answer. Thus Fredriksson lost his crown in this event to Strömberg, although their fortunes would be reversed the following day, when the Swede took gold over the Finn in the K-1 1000. Germany’s [Michel Scheuer], meanwhile, dashed past Hansen for a surprise bronze medal-finish.

These are the results of the men's K-1 10000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The K-1 event is raced by single-man canoe sprint kayaks.

Among [Lars Glassér] and [Ingemar Hedberg’s] many World Championship titles was one that they won together in the K-2 1000 at the 1950 edition. This made them the favorites in the event, although they would have plenty of challengers, including Norway’s [Ivar Mathisen] and [Knut Østby], runners-up at the most recent World Championships and in the K-2 10000 at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Sweden posted the fastest time in the opening round, while [Cees Koch] and [Jan Klingers] of the Netherlands and [Max Raub] and [Herbert Wiedermann] of Austria won the other two heats. The Austrian duo had taken bronze in the K-1 4 x 500 metres relay and the K-2 500 at the 1950 World Championships, while the Netherlands had been the bronze medalist in the K-2 1000, albeit with a different crew. The final came down to an exciting four-way race between Sweden, Austria, Finland’s [Kurt Wires] and [Yrjö Hietanen], and Germany’s [Gustav Schmidt] and [Helmut Noller], all of whom seemed to cross the finish line at the same time. A photo finish helped the judges determine that the Finns had emerged victorious, with Sweden in second, although, due to the limits on timing accuracy in that era, both recorded the same time. The Austrians had taken bronze 0.3 seconds later, while Germany was only another 0.4 seconds behind them in fourth. This was Hietanen and Wires’ second Olympic title of the Games, having taken the K-2 10000 the previous day, and was Wires’ third Olympic medal overall, as he had been the runner-up in the 1948 K-1 10000 event.

These are the results of the men's K-2 1000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The K-2 event is raced by two-man canoe sprint kayaks. Heats and final took place on July 28

[Gunnar Åkerlund] and [Hans Wetterström] were, among other titles, the reigning Olympic and World Champions in the K-2 10000 and favorites to repeat their victory at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Their strongest challengers included [Ivar Mathisen] and [Knut Østby] of Norway, the 1948 Olympic K-2 10000 and 1950 World K-2 1000 runners-up, and [Ingvard Nørregaard] and [Svend Frømming] of Denmark, the 1950 World K-2 10000 silver medalists. It was [Yrjö Hietanen] and [Kurt Wires] of Finland who led the race for the entire course, however, the latter of whom was the 1948 Olympic runner-up in the K-1 10000. Near the end, the Swedes undertook a strong drive to overtake the Finns that nearly succeeded, but Hietanen and Wires were able to respond in kind and just barely claimed the gold medal at the finish line, with only 0.4 seconds to spare. The 1948 champions, therefore, had to settle for silver, while the Hungarian duo of [Ferenc Varga] and [József Gurovits] captured a surprise bronze medal. Hietanen and Wires, meanwhile, would go on to win another gold medal against Sweden in the K-2 1000 the following day.

These are the results of the men's K-2 10000 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The K-2 event is raced by two-man canoe sprint kayaks

[Sylvi Saimo] of Finland was the reigning World Champion in the women’s K-1 500 and the favorite to take the event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The defending Olympic champion and most recent World runner-up, Denmark’s [Karen Hoff], was not present in Helsinki, and her nation was represented by [Bodil Svendsen], who had won World Championship medals as far back as the inaugural edition in 1938. The most recent Olympic runner-up, [Lida van der Anker-Doedens] of the Netherlands, returned in the hopes of nabbing gold, while [Gertrude Liebhart] of Austria was representing the defending Olympic bronze medalist nation. The opening heats were won by Saimo, van der Anker-Doedens, and [Nina Savina] of the Soviet Union but, in the medal round, the final stretch came down to a race between Saimo and Liebhart, with the former edging out the latter by only 0.4 seconds to claim gold. Austria thus settled for silver while Savina snuck ahead of van der Anker-Doedens to claim bronze. Svendsen, meanwhile, was fifth. One other notable participant was [Therese Zenz] who, representing the French protectorate of Saar (1947-1956), finished ninth, which was her nation’s second-best performance at the Games (behind [Erich Schmidt’s] joint-eighth in lightweight Greco-Roman wrestling). She would go on to win three Olympic silver medals for West Germany in 1956 and 1960.

This is a listing of the results for the women's K-1 500 metres competition in canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The K-1 event is raced by single-person canoe sprint kayaks. Heat and semifinals took place on July 28.