The 38-year-old is widely regarded as the most successful male athlete in the history of the sport.

As well as his Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 medals, Dukurs boasts six World Championships titles, 12 European Championships golds, 11 overall World Cup titles, and 61 individual World Cup victories.

"I made a decision, full of emotions but logical," Martins Dukurs wrote on Instagram, thanking everyone who supported him during two decades of competitive sport.

"I have experienced defeats, great victories, indescribable excitement and will definitely miss competing.

"But sometimes you have to quit to take on new challenges in life."

Dukurs briefly retired in 2018 after placing fourth at the Pyeongchang Winter Games but made a return for one last attempt at Olympic gold in Beijing four years later.

After finishing seventh at his fifth Games appearance, he decided he was done.

At both Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014, Dukurs finished behind a slider from the host nations who were thought to have benefited from more training experience on the competition track.

Dukurs' older brother Tomas is currently still an active athlete but speculation is growing over whether he will follow in his sibling's footsteps.

He is undecided on his future saying competing next season could still be a possibility.

"I'm still looking at how it would be better," said Tomass Dukurs, as reported by Sportacentrs.

"It would probably be correct to say that I will still hesitate.

"Before, the thought was that I would still start, but then Martins decided that he would not go again.

"You know, we competed together for so long, trained and did everything else.

"Now he decided not to, then I also have things to consider."

The Skeleton World Cup season is due to begin in Whistler in Canada on November 25, the first of eight stops which culminate in the Sigulda leg in Latvia on February 17 2023.