Spring-like weather with mild temperatures softened the top layer of the Radvanje course here during the event, leading to Shiffrin to comment: "I don't think they should put the Olympics here".

Shiffrin, winner of the slalom and super-G at the Championships, was not the only top Alpine skier to complain.

Olympic downhill champion Sofia Goggia was upset about the dramatic change in weather conditions, claiming "you can't go from minus 30 to plus six in a week" and that "such [a situation] does not exist in Italy", although obviously she would say that as she is backing the joint bid from Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Octavian Morariu, chair of the IOC Evaluation Commission, revealed that they will take account of the criticism.

"It is clear that the athletes' opinion is very important because they are central to the Games," Morariu told SVT Sport as the IOC Evaluation Commission officially begun its visit. 

"We must ensure that the conditions are good, but at the same time there are things that cannot be influenced, such as weather, so we have to adapt and be flexible with how we prepare for the competitions."

Åre, whose surrounding areas were inhabited by Vikings a thousand years ago, likes to market itself as one of the "coolest and trendiest ski resorts" in the world.

This is actually the village's seventh bid for the Winter Olympic Games because, as the only piste in Sweden suitable for top-level downhill races, it was part of previous failed campaigns from Gothenburg for 1984, Falun for 1988 and 1992 and Östersund for 1994, 1998 and 2002.

Morariu was giving nothing away at the start of this five-day IOC Evaluation Commission visit to Sweden which will be followed in the first week of April by a trip to Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo to review their bid.

"These are two competitive bids from countries with great experience in winter sports," he told SVT Sport.

 "It's a challenge for both bids to be good."

The Evaluation Commission is due to publish its report before the end of May and the vote is scheduled to take place at the IOC Session in Lausanne on June 24. 

One of the most powerful weapons in the armory of Stockholm Åre 2026 is Gunilla Lindberg, the Swede who is an influential member of the IOC and who was the chair of, first, the Evaluation Commission and, then, the Coordination Commission for Pyeongchang 2018.

Lee Hee-beom, the President of Pyeongchang 2018, is among those who is a member of the IOC Evaluation Commission for 2026. 

"It's like standing on the starting line for a competition," Lindberg, secretary general of the Swedish Olympic Committee, told TT News Agency

"In June I will really be nervous.

"These are important days here. 

"It was great to wake up this morning and watch the sun shine from a clear blue sky.

"It would be great fun to be able to finish my Olympic assignment with an Olympics at home.

"I see it in front of me when I find it hard to sleep."

There is a clear lack of excitement at the moment about the prospect of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to Sweden.

Even here, a tiny village with less than 1,500 residents, which would earn worldwide attention if the Games are awarded to Stockholm Åre 2026. there were no banners or posters welcoming the IOC Evaluation Commission.

Lindberg, though, is confident that public support for the Games is growing.

"I think that public opinion has strengthened a lot in the past six months when people understand more what we are talking about and what the Olympics can mean for Sweden," she told TT News Agency.

"It shows measurements that have been made.

"I believe, without promising, that we will get it financially together without problems. 

"We have a very low budget because we have to use existing arenas to a great extent. 

"And we get $900 million (£700 million/€800 million) from the IOC to help arrange things."