 Wood represented Australia in the single scull event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where he was honoured by being selected to carry the Australian flag at the opening ceremony.On the journey to Finland, Wood stopped in England and repeated his victory at the Henley Royal Regatta in the Diamond Challenge Sculls, beating Tony Fox in the final.Wood was a favourite to win the single scull at the Olympics, but lost the final by 1.7 seconds to Yuriy Tyukalov.