©IOC

This caption engraved around the top of the torch bears witness to the organisers’ desire to have the flame depart from Olympia, ending up in Squaw Valley. However, as the deadlines were too short to organise such a relay, it was decided to light the flame in Morgedal, in Norway. The choice of this place, where the flame of the Oslo 1952 Games also was lit, was not insignificant: it is considered as the birthplace of skiing and therefore recalled the origin of this sport.