The six-time world champion is now to use his expertise to guide British sliders through the new Olympic cycle.

"Retiring wasn't a one-day decision," Dukurs said.

"I’m 38 now so, although I was always taught to never give up, maybe now it’s smarter to do that! 

"And the opportunity to join such a great team came at the perfect time.

"If I look simply at history of results, no one has achieved what Great Britain has, even a big nation like Germany. 

"They've achieved this without a track, too. 

"That means that the system is a good one.

"There is some great potential with the athletes and I like everything that I’ve seen so far and how things are done. 

"I can see the structure and all the planning and I can see that it isn’t just guesswork."

Beijing 2022 was the first Winter Olympics in more than two decades where Britain did not win a skeleton medal.

Lizzy Yarnold won women's Olympic titles at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018, while Amy Williams was the gold medallist at Vancouver 2010.

No country has won more Olympic skeleton medals than Britain and much of that success has been attributed to training which takes place at a push-start track in Bath.

Dukurs' appointment comes with UK Sport having included skeleton in its funding plan for Milan Cortina 2026, but not assigned a precise amount.

UK Sport estimates an investment of up to £4.8 million ($5.8 million/€5.7 million) in skeleton.

A mixed-gender team skeleton event has been added to the Olympic programme for Milan Cortina 2026. 

"It's a huge boost to have Martins on board for the new Olympic cycle," British Skeleton performance director Natalie Dunman said.

"Martins is widely regarded as the greatest slider the world has ever seen and the things he has achieved in the sport are nothing short of incredible.

"He was understandably in high demand so we are absolutely delighted that he has chosen to buy into what we are trying to achieve and begin his coaching career with us.

"I know that his experience and expertise will rub off on our athletes and our staff and we’ve already seen aspects of that in the time he’s spent with us so far in Bath.

"The start of a new Olympic cycle is always exciting but there is no doubt that bringing Martins into our team is adding to the buzz about what lies ahead this winter and on the road to Milan Cortina."

In May, Austrian technician Matthias Guggenberger was hired to be Britain's skeleton performance sliding coach.

Guggenberger had coached Dukurs for the last three seasons.

Dukurs won Olympic silver medals at Sochi 2014 and Vancouver 2010.

The Latvian placed fourth at Pyeongchang 2018 and seventh at Beijing 2022.

Dukurs did win last season's overall World Cup title and is also a 12-time European champion.