The Briton took the gold in a time of 4 minutes and 4.122 seconds. It was over three seconds faster than Rasmus Lund, who in the final finished in a time of 4 minutes and 7.496 seconds.
It was expected that Charlton would be too big a mouthful for Rasmus Lund, who made his debut in the discipline at a World Championship.
It is the third Danish medal at the track World Championships. Amalie Dideriksen won silver in the scratch event on Wednesday, while the Danish team (featuring Rasmus Lund among others) in the 4000m team pursuit won gold late on Thursday evening CET.
Rasmus Lund's performance in the individual final was a bit slower than in the qualification, where he finished in a time of 4 minutes and 5.092 seconds. It was second best to Charlton as they qualified for the final.
Just like in the qualification, Rasmus Lund started slowly in the final.
After 1000 meters, he was more than two seconds behind Charlton, and the British rider never allowed him to catch up.
Rasmus Lund ate a bit of Charlton's lead, but not enough at all. The Dane got the lead down to 1.8 seconds, but after 2500 meters, Charlton started to increase again, and with 500 meters to go, the lead reached three seconds.