His appointment was announced by the Dutch National Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation little over a year after the Briton ended his six-year tenure as head coach of the Canadian national team.

De La Hunty, a former flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, represented Britain in the Olympics at Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988.

His best finish was 12th in the two-man event in Calgary.

He began full-time coaching in 1991 and served as assistant ice coach of the British team at the Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994 and Nagano 1998.

The 61-year-old then worked as head coach of the Dutch team between 2000 and 2002 and again from 2006 and 2010, breaking in the middle to return to the British team as head coach at Turin 2006.

He served six years with the Canadian team during which Kaillie Humphries secured her second Olympic gold medal in 2014, World Championships titles in 2012 and 2013 and overall World Cup crowns in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Pilot Lyndon Rush won the 2013 overall World Cup and a silver medal at the 2012 World Championships in two man bob.

Dutch participation at Pyeongchang 2018 would mean involvement in a 10th successive Winter Olympic Games for De La Hunty. 

Ivo de Bruin piloted Dutch teams to 24th in the four-man and 25th in the two-man World Cup standings for the 2016-2017 season. 

The Netherlands have never won an Olympic bobsleigh medal.

Esmé Kamphuis and Judith Vis did, though, finish fourth in the two-person women's event at Sochi 2014.

A total of 35 of the country's all-time haul of 37 Winter Olympic gold medals have come in speed skating, with one victory apiece in figure skating and snowboarding.