The double Winter Olympian replaces the retiring Robin Dixon – also known as Lord Glentoran – following the approval of the BBSA Board.

He competed for Britain in four-man bobsleigh at both the Lake Placid 1980 and Sarajevo 1984 Winter Games, finishing ninth on his first appearance.

In Lake Placid he also served as team captain, while he held ice coach, equipment manager and performance director roles across five Winter Olympics between 1988 and 2002.

At Nagano in 1998 he helped guide Britain to four-man bronze, which they shared with France.

Wallington is also a former lieutenant colonel with the Royal Tank Regiment.

Christopher Rodrigues, the chairman of the BBSA between 2014 and this year, has been named vice-president.

"I'm extremely honoured to be invited to take over as President of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association," said Wallington.

"Benefiting from 44 years participating in the sports, I'm committed to making as big a contribution as is possible to continue nurturing the global success of British bobsleigh and skeleton at the highest level and to encouraging and developing participation at all levels."

Britain has won the Olympic gold medal in women's skeleton at the past three Games, with Amy Williams winning at Vancouver 2010 and Lizzy Yarnold triumphing at both Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.

Dixon was part of the country's sole bobsleigh gold, in the two-man alongside Tony Nash in Innsbruck in 1964.

The 84-year-old has opted to step down in the lead-up to Beijing 2022.

He also won World Championship gold and has a corner named after him at the famous St Moritz track in Switzerland.

"It is a further honour to be taking the reigns from Lord Glentoran, who is an icon for British Bobsleigh, having won the nation's only bobsleigh Olympic gold medal 55 years ago and contributed so much ever since," Wallington added.

Wallington takes the post after a troubled period for the BBSA, which faced allegations of bullying, sexism and racism.

UK Sport cut all Government funding for bobsleigh after a failure to medal in Pyeongchang, while BBC Sport reported that £7 million ($8.7 million/€8 million) for skeleton was only released after several Board members stepped down.

"We are delighted to announce that Tony Wallington will now be our new President after Lord Glentoran's decision to pass on the baton," said BBSA chair Joanna Poulton.

"As well as competing at the highest level as an athlete, Tony has played key roles in team management and wider administration and we look forward to working closely with him now that he has been appointed as a formal ambassador of the BBSA.

"We would also like to say a huge heartfelt thank you to Lord Glentoran for his incredible contribution. 

"His achievements as an athlete set the standard that all others have attempted to follow and his service since retiring from competition has been equally valuable."