Gyulay beat Balázs Hajdu, a two-time Olympian in sailing, by 34 votes to 14 at the MOB Annual General Meeting.

The election was held following the resignation of Kulcsár, who lost a vote of no confidence in his leadership late last month.

It had been triggered after growing discontent had been expressed in his leadership following his decision to dramatically reduce the number of MOB members from 215 to 123, and then to 115.

Further outrage centred around Kulcsár after it was discovered he raised his own honorary salary from HUF1.2 million (£2,740/$3,673/€3,247) to HUF2.6 million (£5,937/$7,959/€7,036) after his re-election.

Kulcsár had been first elected to the role in 2017 and was given another term at the helm in 2020.

"I would like to thank Krisztián Kulcsár for his work so far, and although it is unfortunate that this has happened, the membership has also given us a little thought about how to proceed," said Gyulay.

"The past few weeks have been stressful, but at such times one has to step out of one’s comfort zone. 

"At the same time, I have to emphasise what I also told Balázs Hajdu, that the kind of noble competition we made for each other is very good for the whole Olympic Movement.

"It is clear that I want to lead a well-functioning Olympic Committee, and the first step is to start the new statute after the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

"At the moment, the MOB has a truncated General Assembly, the representatives of the clubs, sports science, or the club of Olympic champions and the National Federation of Sports Associations are missing. 

"I feel that they cannot be left out, and based on the negotiations, there is a great need for this."

Gyulay won gold in the K1 500 metres and K4 1,000m races at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

He is also a seven-time world champion.