For Hughes, Sunday’s showdown with the world’s fastest men provided him the opportunity to deliver in a major final.
The 28-year-old’s Olympic ambitions were abruptly ended by a false start in the Tokyo final two years ago, while he failed to qualify from his Worlds semi-final in 2022.
Hughes admitted a false start by South African Akani Simbine in his semi-final here caused him to start cautiously before he powered down the home straight to set up a chance at a medal.
“I just needed to execute my race. In the semi-finals I got a great start but when we had the false start it made me sit in my blocks a bit,” said Hughes.
“I just needed to trust myself. I knew I had the speed and I just needed to stay in the mix. Once I was in the mix I just needed to power through and everything would take care of itself.”
Hughes momentarily believed he had beaten American Lyles, who won in 9.83 to match the Briton’s world-leading time, in a close finish to a wide-open event.
“Honestly, I thought I’d got Lyles,” said Hughes.
“I didn’t know Tebogo was up there. When I saw the results and I saw Tebogo’s name I thought ‘where did he come from’ but, nevertheless, I’m up there as well. This means the world to me.”
There are further opportunities to come, with Hughes beginning his 200m campaign in Wednesday’s heats before joining GB’s bid for a 4x100m relay medal.
“The 200m is my baby, I love the 200m,” Hughes said. “For me, I’m just going to go back now and recover, get some good sleep tonight and go again.”
