Chapelle looked on as last year's respective gold and silver medallists Landon Miller and Dane Jackson both fell short of his total of 858.33 points, with Jackson taking silver on 850.00 and Miller finishing third on 803.33.

Chapelle's only previous medal was a silver in the men's canoe in 2015.

"I’ve been competing at the world level, my first one was in 2003, this is my ninth world championships and I have four fourth place finishes and a second," Chapelle said.

"I’ve always wanted to be a world champion ever since I knew about freestyle paddling and it’s finally happened.

"My world championships curse seems to be fourth place, so when I confirmed I was on the podium, I thought I have nothing to lose, if I throw my perfect ride I could win, so I just went out there and tricks started working."

For Jackson this was a third consecutive silver medal.

Miller thus added bronze to the gold he had won the previous day in securing his first open canoe surface title after moving up from second place with his final ride to finish on 133.33.

Canada's Zach Zwanenburg took a second consecutive silver, with bronze going to Germany’s Philip Josef.

In the women’s C1 canoe decked surface final, Ottilie Robinson-Shaw successfully defended the title she won in Nottingham last year.

The  Briton produced the two highest scoring rides and was sure of gold before her last venture onto the water, finishing with a score of 175.00.

Despite the win Robinson-Shaw said she still felt disappointed in her performance.

"It was a tricky competition, so it’s nice to be at the top again," Robinson-Shaw said.

"I was really disappointed in my paddling.

"When I go out to paddle I’m not just trying to win the gold, I want to do a ride that I can look back on and feel really proud, and I am sad that I didn’t necessarily hit that.

Silver went to Poland’s Zofia Tula on 78.33, with Robinson-Shaw’s team-mate Tamsyn McConchie earning bronze with 65.00.