Matthias Guggenberger has announced his decision to work as a coach ©IBSF

Skeleton athlete Matthias Guggenberger has taken a year off from competing in the sport to focus on his coaching roles with Austria and Belgium.

Guggenberger, a World Championships bronze medallist in 2016, underwent surgery following the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

The 33-year-old Austrian has decided to miss the entire 2018 to 2019 campaign to recover.

He will coach Belgian Kim Meylemans and the Austrian World Cup team, including double World Championships medallist and two-time European champion Janine Flock and her compatriot Florian Auer.

Guggenberger, a three-time Olympian, has been competing in skeleton since 2005.

Janine Flock is among the athletes who will be coached by Matthias Guggenberger during the 2018 to 2019 season ©Getty Images
Janine Flock is among the athletes who will be coached by Matthias Guggenberger during the 2018 to 2019 season ©Getty Images

He finished 10th overall during the 2012 and 2015 Skeleton World Cup seasons and enjoyed arguably his most successful moment when he was part of the Austrian squad which claimed mixed team bronze at the 2016 World Championships in Igls.

Guggenberger has opted to work as a full-time coach for the upcoming campaign and has not yet revealed his intentions beyond the end of the 2019 season.

Meylemans was 14th at Pyeongchang 2018, where she was subjected to alleged harassment and threats from Russian athletes after she boycotted events held in the nation to protest the country's doping scandal.

The openly-gay 22-year-old has been an outspoken critic of Russia and was among the athletes to urge the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation to move the 2017 World Championships from Sochi as punishment.