Japan's Kōhei Uchimura has been elected as a director of the Japan Gymnastics Association ©Getty Images

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Kōhei Uchimura has been elected to serve a two-year term as director of the Japan Gymnastics Association.

The 34-year-old retired from competition last year having struggled with injuries, but is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.

He won back-to-back men's all-around Olympic gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, also helping Japan to win the men's team title at the Games in Brazil.

Uchimura also won team silver medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and placed second in the all-around competition in the Chinese capital and in the floor exercise four years later.

Kōhei Uchimura won back-to-back men's all-around Olympic gold medals representing Japan at London 2012 and Rio 2016 ©Getty Images
Kōhei Uchimura won back-to-back men's all-around Olympic gold medals representing Japan at London 2012 and Rio 2016 ©Getty Images

He was elected to a role of director at the Japan Gymnastics Association at an extraordinary meeting, and is set to begin his two-year term in June.

Uchimura dominated men's artistic gymnastics for nearly a decade, winning a record six consecutive all-around titles at the World Championships from 2009 to 2015.

He also won four golds in the floor exercise, parallel bars, team and horizontal bar in 2011, 2013 and 2015 to take his overall tally at the event up to 10.

He was selected for his home Olympics at Tokyo 2020, but chose to focus on one apparatus due to persistent should problems, and failed to reach the horizontal bar final.