Editing Morgedal (section)

==Skiing==
The village is notable because it is considered to be the birthplace of the sport of downhill [[skiing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.morgedal.com/english/|title=Morgedal, the birthplace of skiing|website=Morgedal.com|accessdate=2023-08-12}}</ref> Morgedal was home to [[Sondre Norheim]] who is often called the father of modern skiing. It was also home to [[Torjus Hemmestveit]] and [[Mikkjel Hemmestveit]], two brothers who created the world's first skiing school in [[Oslo|Christiania, Norway]] in 1881 before emigrating to the [[United States]] in the late 19th century.

[[Olav Bjaaland]], another skier from Morgedal, journeyed to the [[South Pole]] as a member of [[Amundsen's South Pole expedition]]. Bjaaland skied at the front of the expedition party so that the sled dogs had something to run after.<ref name="NBL">{{Cite web |last=Susan Barr |title=Olav Bjaaland |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Olav_Bjaaland |access-date=1 June 2017 |publisher=Norsk biografisk leksikon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Olav Bjaaland |url=http://www.polarhistorie.no/personer/Bjaaland%2C%20Olav |access-date=1 June 2017 |publisher=Norsk Polar History}}</ref>

The [[Olympic Flame]]s for the [[1952 Winter Olympics]] in [[Oslo]] and the [[1960 Winter Olympics]] in [[Squaw Valley, Placer County, California|Squaw Valley]], and the flame used in the national torch relay for the [[1994 Winter Olympics]] in [[Lillehammer]] (which was later used as the flame for the [[1994 Winter Paralympics]]), were all lit at the Øvrebø farm in Morgedal, the birthplace of [[Sondre Norheim]].