©IOC

The first Relay in the framework of the Winter Games was organised for the Oslo OG in 1952. However, the itinerary of this Relay did not start in Olympia, which was traditional, but in Morgedal (Norway). The reasons for this break with tradition were easily understandable: the city of Morgedal, in the county of Telemark, was considered the birthplace of skiing. Furthermore, it was the hometown of Sondre Norheim, one of the great pioneers of modern skiing. Also, the torch produced on the occasion of the Oslo OG bore an inscription mentioning the cities of Morgedal and Oslo, symbolically linked by an arrow.