The 26-year-old Hungarian, who won the individual sabre titles at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games, automatically becomes a member of the FIE's Executive Committee because of his appointment.

He takes over from Japan's Yuki Ota who served for three-and-a-half years and will remain on the Executive Committee.

Ota, a double Olympic silver medallist, will now serve as the Executive Committee's representative among the athletes' group. 

"It is a great honour to serve as President of the Athletes Commission," said Szilagyi. 

"Even though my mandate is short I will work the best I can to achieve our goals."

Szilagyi will be tasked with collecting and documenting Athletes' Commission matters and discussing them with the Executive Committee.

His fencing career so far has also included a team gold medal at the World Championships, which he won with Hungary in Russian city Saint Petersburg in 2007.

He also won individual World Championship bronze in Budapest in 2013 and the individual European title in Montreux in Switzerland in 2015.

Egypt's Alaaeldin Abouelkassem, Kazakhstan's Elmir Alimzhanov, Tunisia's Azza Besbes, Romania's Ana Maria Popescu, Chile's Paris Inostroza Budinich, Russia's Nikolay Kovalev, China's Lei Sheng, France's Maureen Nisima-Charley, Italy's Valentina Vezzali and American Mariel Zagunis also sit on the Athletes' Commission. 

In November, Russian Alisher Usmanov was re-elected as FIE President for another four year spell at the governing body's Congress in Moscow.

The Uzbekistan-born businessman is now serving a third term as the President, having first been chosen to lead the governing body in 2008. 

Usmanov, who owns a 30.04 per cent stake in English Premier League football club Arsenal and has an estimated net worth of $14 billion (£11.3 billion/€13.2 billion), was standing unopposed.