Oleg Znarok guided the Olympic Athletes from Russia to men's ice hockey gold at Pyeongchang 2018 ©Getty Images

Oleg Znarok has been re-appointed as head coach of the Russian men's national ice hockey team, having guided the "neutral" Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) to gold at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Znarok has signed a one-year deal, meaning he will lead the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team's campaign at Beijing 2022 in February.

The 58-year-old previously led Latvia at international level, before taking over as Russia boss after Sochi 2014.

He won gold at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship later that year, and guided the country to a silver and then two bronze medals in the following three editions.

As per Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation President Vladislav Tretiak is confident that Znarok has the credentials to achieve further success.

"Znarok has the authority among the National Hockey League (NHL) players and we hope that he will unite the [national] team," Tretiak said.

"He is charismatic and previously led the team to win the World Championship in Minsk [in 2014]."

Znarok succeeds Valery Bragin, who will now serve as an advisor to the team.

The ROC team are in Group B of the men's ice hockey tournament at Beijing 2022 alongside the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark ©Getty Images
The ROC team are in Group B of the men's ice hockey tournament at Beijing 2022 alongside the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark ©Getty Images

However, outgoing IIHF President René Fasel said at the international governing body's Congress in Saint Petersburg that Znarok may have limited training time with players from North America's NHL who are selected to represent the ROC at Beijing 2022, including star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

NHL players were absent from Pyeongchang 2018 after appearing at the previous five Games, and there had been doubts over whether an agreement would be reached to allow them to feature in the Chinese capital.

A deal was struck between the IIHF, NHL and NHL Players' Association earlier this month - however that includes a coronavrius-related veto should the health situation deteriorate.

"Neutral" Russian athletes competed as OAR at Pyeongchang 2018, and as they did at Tokyo 2020, will feature at Beijing 2022 as ROC as part of sanctions imposed on the country over its "cover-up of the cover-up" and manipulation of data at the Moscow Laboratory.

Russia's name, flag and anthem have been banned from World Championship and Olympic events for two years from December 2020.

The World Anti-Doping Agency initially imposed four-year sanctions, but these were halved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

ROC are one of 12 teams featuring in the men's ice hockey tournament at Beijing 2022, and will play in Group B alongside the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games are due to be held from February 4 to 20.