The men's alpine skiing downhill was the first of six events of the alpine skiing programme at the 1952 Winter Olympics. It was held at Norefjell ski area on Saturday, 16 February 1952, and started at 1 p.m.. Defending world champion Zeno Colò won the gold, the only Olympic medal of his career. He was fourth in the other two events. It was the second Olympic downhill race, which was first run as a separate event in 1948. Eighty-one alpine skiers from 27 nations competed.