Speaking to Russian state news agency TASS, Alimov said that Matschenz had joined the team after his contract with Germany expired on September 1.

However, Matschenz had left the German national team in April following the 2020 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Championship, which was held in Altenberg in his home nation.

The 41-year-old former athlete held his post with Germany from March 2018 and led the squad to all three skeleton gold medals at the World Championship.

"Dirk has been invited to work with our team during the upcoming season," said Alimov.

"We have hired him with the main aim of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

"Dirk will have a lot of things to share with us as he joins the Russian team.

"We should mention that the reigning world champion, Tina Hermann, has been recently competing using a skeleton bobsled produced personally by him."

Russia did not win a medal at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in skeleton, after previously winning a gold and a bronze medal at their home Sochi 2014 Games.

Both medallists, men's champion Aleksandr Tretyakov and women's third-place finisher Elena Nikitina, were stripped of their titles for doping before successful appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport saw their results restored. 

"He will be in charge of various spheres working as a coach with the Russian national team," Alimov added.

"We will definitely benefit from this expert who had been successfully leading the German team for a number of years."

The Beijing Winter Olympics is scheduled to run from February 4 to 20 in 2022.