1952 Winter Olympics torch relay
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The 1952 Winter Olympics torch relay was the first time that a flame was transported as part of the build-up to the
Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
. While similar to the inaugural Summer Olympics torch relay of 1936 the
Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...
did not start in Olympia, instead the relay began in
Morgedal Morgedal is a village in the municipality of Kviteseid, Telemark, Norway. The village gas been described as the "cradle of skiing". Morgedal, Norway is a village whose most famous residents were Sondre Norheim, known to be the father of modern sk ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, the birthplace of competitive skiing. Indeed, the
Norwegian Olympic Committee The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité; NIF) is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in No ...
were keen to stress that this was not the traditional transfer of the Olympic flame but a separate event that symbolised the use of torches while skiing in the dark. It was not until the
1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...
that the relay could be said to transport a true Olympic flame originating from Olympia.


Organization

Olav S. Bjaaland, a teacher in Morgedal, proposed the idea of a cross-country ski relay from Morgedal to Oslo in 1948. The process was seen as a good way to mark the commencement of the Games. The
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) agreed that the relay could go ahead, including winning support from the IOC president, but that this relay would not carry the true Olympic flame as had been established as protocol in the Summer Games since 1936. Instead this torch was passed in the same way that Norwegian skiers historically did while travelling in the dark. Organisational duties were given to the committee for decorations and ceremonies. The flame would not be lit in Olympia, and a location would be chosen that symbolised the birthplace of skiing and Winter events. Since the 1964 relay the process has changed to bring the relay in line with the Summer Olympics and to officially carry the Olympic flame. While there were attempts to give the "Morgedal Flame" the same significance as the Olympic flame the IOC have insisted that all Olympic Games should use the symbolic fire lit in Olympia.


Relay elements


Torch

The nine inch long torch was designed to cope with any weather condition that the relay team would face. Its cylindrical handle was topped off by a large, oval collar that depicted the Olympic rings, the year, and an arrow pointing from the start and end points of the relay (Morgedal and Oslo).


Torch-bearers

A total of 94 renowned skiers or their descendants participated in the relay, the names of whom remained secret until they began their leg of the journey.


Route

The relay began on 13 February at the Morgedal home of
Sondre Norheim Sondre Norheim, born Sondre Auverson, (10 June 1825 – 9 March 1897) was a Norwegian skier and pioneer of modern skiing. Sondre Norheim is known as the father of Telemark skiing. Background Sondre Auverson was born at Øverbø, a little ...
, a pioneer in competitive skiing. The location was chosen to celebrate the birthplace of skiing and the origins of such sporting events. In 1868 Norheim had skied from Morgedal to Oslo to compete in a skiing competition that was being hosted in the city. It would be fitting for a person of high regard to start the relay.
Olav Bjaaland Olav Bjaaland (5 March 1873 – 8 June 1961) was a Norwegian ski champion and polar explorer. In 1911, he was one of the first five men to reach the South Pole as part of Amundsen's South Pole expedition. Biography Olav Olavsen Bjaaland ...
, the grandfather of the man who proposed the relay, was a member of the 1911 South Pole expedition. He was given the honour of kindling the fire, and did so by lighting a pine torch in the hearth of Norheim's home. He then passed the flame to the first relay skier. The torch relay then followed the route that Norheim is believed to have taken to Oslo.


Lighting of the cauldron

The final stretch of the relay to
Bislett Bislett is a neighbourhood in the St. Hanshaugen borough in north-central Oslo, Norway. It is internationally famous for the Bislett Games, held at Bislett Stadium. Bislett has also become known to non-Norwegians due to being the home of the f ...
was undertaken by ski champion
Lauritz Bergendahl Lauritz Bergendahl (30 January 1887 – 15 April 1964) was a Norwegian Nordic skier who won both the Nordic combined and the 50 km cross-country skiing events at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1915. Bergendahl ...
on 15 February. On arrival at the Marathon Gate of the Stadium he passed the torch to the final torch-bearer,
Eigil Nansen Eigil Nansen (18 June 1931 – 27 February 2017) was the son of architect and humanist Odd Nansen and the grandson of explorer and humanist Fridtjof Nansen. In 1991, he won The Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize for his work with refugees and human rights ...
, grandson of explorer, winter event champion and
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
-winning diplomat Fridtjof Nansen. Nansen skied with the torch around the snow embankment before walking up to and lighting the "Olympic Altar".


See also

* 1952 Summer Olympics torch relay


References

{{Olympic torch relays Torch Relay, 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic torch relays