Kharlan cemented her dominance of her discipline with a hard-fought 15-14 win over Russian rival and Olympic silver medallist Sofya Velikaya at YMA Sports and Conference Centre.

The triumph for the four-time Olympic medallist saw her add to the world titles she claimed in 2013, 2014, 2017.

It also ensured she enjoyed a happy return to the Hungarian capital, where she won her first individual World Championships gold six years ago.

Kharlan reached the final by thrashing Romania's Bianca Pascu 15-5, while Velikaya, the 2015 world champion and last year's silver medallist, edged out Greece's Theodora Gkountoura 15-11.

Pascu and Gkountoura were forced to settle for the bronze medals following their respective semi-final defeats.

Climbing onto the top step of the podium in an individual competition at the World Championships is a familiar feeling for the Ukrainian but the same cannot be said for Lefort.

The world number 10 was a member of the French squad which sealed team gold in 2014 but had never won the solo title until today.

Lefort, an Olympic team silver medallist at Rio 2016, despatched Britain's Marcus Mepstead 15-6 in a one-sided final.

The Frenchman overcame 2017 world champion Dmitry Zherebchenko of Russia 15-7 to reach the gold medal bout, while Mepstead beat South Korea's Son Young-ki 15-12.

Son and Zherebchenko took silver.

Today's saw the last individual medals decided and action continues tomorrow with the first two team finals.