Olympian Michael Harvey and European Championship medallist Ruebyn Richards have been appointed following "a rigorous recruitment and assessment process", the governing body said.

Twenty-eight-year-old Harvey and 25-year-old Richards have both retired from active competition.

"Both athletes spent a significant time on the GB Taekwondo world class performance programme," said Gary Hall, GB Taekwondo's performance director.

"They gained huge experience of what athletes need to do to make sustained progress in the training and competition environment. 

"I am sure they will be a great asset to the team's future success.

"It is particularly pleasing to be able to recruit and invest in retired former elite athletes of the GB taekwondo programme.

"We have a successful track record of blending top domestic talent with our experienced international coaches and producing world class coaches.

"I am confident that this trend will continue with these appointments."

Harvey represented Britain at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and won World Championship silver in the under-63 kilogram division in 2011.

He added the European title a year later in his home city of Manchester.

Richards won European bronze at the 2014 European Championships, competing in the under-68kg class.

"Both Mike and Ruebyn are super excited to join the team," Hall added.

"They are looking forward to supporting the squad to be at their very best on their taekwondo training and competition journeys."

Harvey's tenure will begin this month with Richards starting in February.

Britain has become a world superpower in taekwondo, with the likes of Jade Jones and Bianca Walkden winning Olympic and World Championship medals.

Coaches Paul Green and Gareth Brown were recruited by USA Taekwondo after leaving the British set-up in November.