The 26-year-old became Britain's first medallist in the event since 1992 after producing a faultless run at Shunyi White Water Park to propel him into first position from fourth place.

He held the lead with one competitor to go, however he was eventually overhauled by Michal Martikan of Slovakia, while Robin Bell of Australia took bronze.

Florence, who celebrated his birthday last Friday on the day of the opening ceremony, is the first British slalom canoeing medallist since Gareth Marriott, who also won silver at Barcelona in 1992.

Florence came into the final in fourth place and produced a faultless run which propelled him above Poland's Krzystof Bieryt and Czech paddler Stanislav Jezek.

Florence, a Chinese-speaking bagpipe-playing Scot, then had an anxious wait as his rivals failed to beat his time until the last competitor Martikan, the 1996 Olympic champion when he was only 17, surpassed him.

He said: “I’ve got an Olympic medal, I’m absolutely delighted.

"This really is a dream come true.

“It’s been a long, long time coming and means everything to me.

“I was fourth going into the final, so I knew I was in the mix.

"The thing with slalom canoeing is there’s one opportunity to do it, one opportunity not to make mistakes.

“I hit a gate in my semi-final run and that cost me a two second penalty straight away, so I knew that if I could avoid that and have a good clean run then I was in with a chance.

“I feel like I’ve really earned my silver medal.

Michal won this event in 1996 and has been around a long time.

"He’s a very tough competitor.”

Earlier Britain's 2004 Olympic silver medallist Campbell Walsh crashed out of the kayaking competition when he finished last in the semi-final.