Brignone secured her two Olympic medals at Beijing 2022, winning silver in the giant slalom and bronze in the combined event.

The 31-year-old, a bronze medallist in the combined at Pyeongchang 2018, is Italy’s most successful female skier in the International Ski Federation Alpine Ski World Cup with 19 victories, including the overall title in 2020.

But Brignone has ruled herself out of competing at her home Games in four years’ times and raised concerns over the organisation of Milan Cortina 2026.

"For sure I won’t be in Milan Cortina, the Olympic spirit will be missing," Brignone told Rai Sport.

"The Alps are fantastic, we will finally have the Olympic Games back in Europe.

"I liked coming to new countries, but there are slopes used to host Alpine skiing competitions.

"The only bad thing is that it will all be scattered .

"There will be no Olympic Village, there will be no Olympic spirit.

"We will each be in a different place."

Milan Cortina 2026 is set to create Olympic Villages in Milan, Cortina, Predazzo and Livigno.

The Games are due to be held across 22,000 square kilometres, making it the most geographically widespread Olympics in history.

Cortina is located more than 420km from Milan, a drive of over four-and-a-half hours. 

Milan is due to host ice hockey, figure skating and short-track speed skating, with speed skating, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing held in Val di Fiemme.

Valtellina will stage freestyle skiing, snowboard, Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering, while biathlon will take place in Anterselva.

Cortina will also host Alpine skiing as well as curling and the sliding sports of bobsleigh, skeleton and luge.

Norwegian skier Lucas Braathen has also expressed reservations over the separation of Alpine skiing events, with men heading to Bormio and women competing in Cortina.

"I don’t like that," said Braathen.

"It’s so cool to have everyone be in one location. 

"I’m here to make new foreign friends and to see all types of culture, and then they’re dividing us."

Milan Cortina 2026 President Giovanni Malagò admitted logistics and transport were the "biggest challenges" facing organisers but was confident of overcoming any obstacles.

"This clearly represents a kind of guarantee for the success because we have areas where we have had the highest levels of competition in all these sports and disciplines whether it is biathlon, Alpine skiing and sliding sports," Malagò, who is also President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, said.

"We are very familiar with many of the issues here."

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala and his Cortina d’Ampezzo counterpart Gianpietro Ghedina are set to both take the Olympic Flag when the Handover Ceremony takes place later today at the conclusion of the Winter Olympics.

"It is the story of modern Olympics," Malagò, a member of the International Olympic Committee, said. 

"We have involved not just a city but an entire territory.

"We have an opportunity to best represent the most important aspects of our country and we are also going to focus on the requirement to create new venues.

"If you look at our bid you will see that nobody has been able to put together a bid like ours.

"We have been working on this project for the last six years.

"When the Flag is handed over the two cities are undertaking to organise Games which are completely different to what you have seen in the past."