Knudsen was on course for the title as he took the lead in the final leg and looked to press the accelerator at Lake Jels.

But the Danish canoeist was unable to hold on as Foley came charging in the closing 100 metres before pulling away to clinch victory.

It was a tight and tactical race with Knudsen looking the stronger in the portages but Foley was never too far away.

Portugal’s Francisco Santos, South Africa’s Matthew Fenn, Spain’s Joaquin Inglesias, Argentinian duo Julian Salinas and Pedro Ratto, Britain’s Luke Shaw and Hungary’s Zalan Peli were also in contention, forming part of a nine-strong leading group for much of the race.

Knudsen cleanly got out of his boat in the crucial final portage before returning to the water in the lead for the last lap.

With Foley and Santos breathing down his neck, Knudsen tried to forge ahead but was unable to shake off the Irishman.

Foley overhauled Knudsen before sealing the title in 1hour 46min 42.84sec.

Knudsen crossed in 1:46:48.64 for silver, with Santos claiming bronze in 1:46:49.84.

Hungary’s Panna Csepe produced an excellent final lap to clinch the women’s under-23 K1 crown.

It was a three-way battle which was determined at the final portage as Csepe emerged victorious.

Csepe led the way, with Katerina Milova of the Czech Republic and Saskia Hockly of South Africa sitting behind in the penultimate leg.

While Csepe managed to smoothly get onto land, Milova made a crucial mistake, forcing her to tip water out of her boat.

Csepe established a seven-second gap when she returned to the water and did not look back, winning in 1:42:50.17.

Milova had to settle for silver in 1:43:07.89, with Hockly completing the top three in 1:43:36.22.

Spain’s Jaime Duro captured the men’s under-23 C1 crown after clocking a winning time of 1:34:08.94.

He did enough to see off the challenge of Poland’s Eryk Wilga who finished in 1:35:19.40 for silver.

Diego Pineiro joined compatriot Duro on the podium when he sealed bronze in 1:36:06.15.

There was delight for Germany in the women’s under-23 C1 event as Annette Wehrmann triumphed in 1:03:13.13.

Alzbeta Veverkova of the Czech Republic capsized but managed to recover to take silver in 1:05:26.66.

Hungary’s Karolina Hegedus saw off compatriot Imola Batka to clinch bronze in 1:05:33.77.

There was also delight for Hungary in the junior competition with Matyas Ludanyi and Adam Vonga winning men’s C2 gold in 1:08:23.86.

Poland’s Alex Wilga and Krystian Kubica finished second in 1:09:29.62, with Spain’s Izan Velasco and Daniel Infantes bagging bronze in 1:09:53.37.

South Africa’s Georgia Singe and Holly Smith were crowned champions in the junior women’s K2 after finishing in a time of 1:21:26.73.

Spain’s Maria Martinez and Lidia Zornoza clocked 1:21:29.80 for silver, while Hungary’s Janka Reisz and Klaudia Kmetyo took bronze in 1:21:31.77.

Para competition also resumed with Brazil winning a further three titles.

Luciano Lima won the men’s KL1 category in 44:56.42, Ana Borges overcame Leonice Friedrich in a Brazilian one-two to take the women’s VL2 title in 1:44:07.25 and Andrea Silva clinched women’s VL1 gold in 1:21:13.20.

There was double delight for Britain, with Jonathan White securing men’s KL2 gold in 1:01:58.18 and Charlie Knowlden getting the better of teammate Timothy Lodge to seal the men’s KL3 crown in 58:41.81.

The other title was won by Sweden’s Elina Walden who clinched women’s open gold in 48:09.31.