The Venezuelan Olympic Committee selected 38 competitors, 36 men and two women, to take part in 37 events across eight sports.

Women have been absent in the Venezuelan team on four occasions, including the next Summer Games held in Melbourne.

After their debut at the previous 1948 Summer Olympics, Venezuela began forming a national team for the 1952 Games.

[4] The main body of the Venezuelan delegation, which comprised a total of 61 men and four women (athletes and officials), arrived in Helsinki for the Games on 7 July;[5] in Finland, Venezuela's Olympic attaché was Olavi Mattila.

[7] In 1951, Asnoldo Devonish won the gold medal in triple jump in the Bolivarian Games with a distance of 15 m, his best result in the event.

[10] Prior to the Games, his coach, Ladislao Lazar, said that he would not allow any of his athletes to compete at Helsinki if Devonish was not on the team.

[8] In 1952, women were part of the Venezuelan Olympic delegation for the first time, with the country including two female athletes, both fencers: Gerda Muller and Ursula Selle.

[13] On only four occasions has the country not included female athletes, in 1948 and 1956 (the Games immediately before and after this instance), and later in 1968 and 1980.

[20] Saiz was a student in London and coached by the Australian Sep Prosser, by air mail.

[22] The diving events were held between 27 July and 2 August at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium; the pool was heated but the air was cold, with the official Olympic report suggesting divers would have "felt the wind and chill more than anyone else".

In the 110 metres hurdles, athletes were drawn in six heats: the best two qualified to the semifinals, and the best three of each semi then advanced to the final.

He fouled his first two jumps and landed 6.82 m on his third, placing 9th in the group and 20th overall, not meeting the qualifying height of 7.20 m.[48][49] In the javelin, Iriarte placed 13th out of 13 in Group A and 26th of all athletes in qualifying, with a throw of 52.13 m, which he achieved on his first attempt (his other two attempts were at shorter distances each time).

[51] For the event, the qualifying height was 187 cm, with all athletes who successful jumped this advancing to the final.

[47][53][54][55][56][57] Devonish's coach, Ladislao Lazar, was celebrated in the Venezuelan press for insisting he compete while injured.

[60] In the overall points table, Iriarte was in joint-16th after the first event, the 100 m sprint; after the long jump he moved up to 9th, where he stayed after the shot put.

The sport saw a large increase in entries, in part due to many weight categories, but also because of countries like Venezuela entering the ring for the first time.

[63][64] The 21-year-old Luis Aranguren, representing Venezuelan in the featherweight boxing, lost his bout 2–1, placing joint-17th out of 30 competing athletes.

[77][78] The fencing events took place at the Westend Tennis Hall, which was 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) from the Olympic Village.

[80] In the individual foil event, 21-year-old Augusto Gutiérrez was drawn in pool 1, losing all pairings to place joint-6th in that group.

With the team slightly changed for the pairings against Italy (swapping 17-year-old Nieves Croes for A. Gutiérrez), they still lost, this time 9–0, coming bottom of the group.

[81][83] In the individual épée event, G. Gutiérrez was in pool 1, winning two pairings but losing four, placing joint 5th.

[87] Both Venezuela's female athletes, Muller and 19-year-old Ursula Selle,[81] were fencers, and both competed in the individual foil.

[89] Venezuela competed in Olympic Shooting for the first time in 1952, as one of the ten new teams to the event this year.

[91] Venezuela had two representatives in the Free Pistol event, 41-year-old Hector d'Lima Polanco[92] and 37-year-old Carlos Marrero Cabrera.

[92] The 25-year-old Herman Barreto Avellaneda[95] and 32-year-old Carlos Monteverde Perez[96] competed in the Silhouette, a rapid-fire shooting event over 25 m. Barreto placed 20th out of 53, hitting all of the targets,[97] while Monteverde placed 52nd, hitting 55 targets.

[98] Venezuela also had two athletes contest the Free Rifle full set, 38-year-old Rigoberto Rivero Lucena[99] and 24-year-old Humberto Briceño Martinez.

[101][102][103] For the first time in the Olympic Games, the small-bore rifle full set was contested (it had previously only been a prone event).

[101][103] Arnal placed 39th, scoring 380 prone, 364 kneeling, and 339 standing, hitting 28 center shots.

[102][103] Wrestling events were contested between 20 and 27 July at the Messuhalli Hall, with weigh-ins conducted in the Olympic Village.

[108][109] The 24-year-old Rodolfo Padron also lost both his matches, representing Venezuela in the freestyle light heavyweight.