After a spectacular London Diamond League all attention now turns to the year’s headline event: the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Backed by an enraptured crowd of 50,000 fans, several British athletes delivered promising performances on home soil to further sharpen their preparations.

But what did Sunday’s breathless action teach us about who might win medals for Great Britain?

Hughes and Asher-Smith lead sprint hopes

Zharnel Hughes could not have wished – or predicted – for his World Championship preparations to go much better to this point.

The 28-year-old, who once again managed to predict his latest British record to the hundredth of a second, smashed John Regis’ 30-year 200m mark by clocking 19.73 seconds.

That performance, just four weeks after he broke the British 100m record by running 9.83 in New York, saw Hughes finish third – behind world 200m champion Noah Lyles, who won in 19.47.

In Budapest, Hughes – coached by Glen Mills, who helped Usain Bolt win his eight Olympic gold medals – is set to target the shorter sprint distance, over which he remains the fastest in the world this year.

One of his main rivals in that event, reigning world champion Fred Kerley, withdrew prior to Sunday’s race. He has run 9.88 in 2023, while Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala has proven his credentials with a best of 9.84.

Dina Asher-Smith admitted she is not very good at being patient following her second-place finish in the women’s 100m, but her times continue to gradually move in the right direction.

The 2019 world 200m champion backed up the season-best she set over 200m in Monaco on Friday by improving her 100m among a quality field.

Asher-Smith’s time of 10.85 is the sixth fastest in the world in 2023, with two athletes from last year’s world podium ahead of her in champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and runner-up Shericka Jackson.

But Asher-Smith got the better of Jackson, the fastest woman this year with a best of 10.65, to finish runner-up to Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

American Sha’Carri Richardson, who pulled out of Sunday’s race with a hamstring issue, is the only other athlete to run quicker than 34-year-old Ta Lou, who was able to overhaul Asher-Smith in the closing stages.

Reekie shines as Hodgkinson prioritises Worlds

The programme was set up for Keely Hodgkinson to deliver the perfect finish to the day’s proceedings in the women’s 800m – and make her latest statement of intent.

The in-form Olympic and world silver medallist’s withdrawal because of illness was precautionary to allow her to focus on Budapest, and she will hope this is no more than a minor setback in what has so far been a stellar year.

Hodgkinson, 21, boasts the fastest time in the world after improving her British record to one minute 55.77 seconds in June, but her expected main rival, Athing Mu, has raced over 800m only once this season.

Stepping up in Hodgkinson’s absence, Jemma Reekie claimed a superb victory to delight the sell-out crowd – a time of 1:57.30 moving her third in the 2023 rankings.

Reekie, 25, said she was in “the best place” possible as she aims for a medal at the Worlds.

While not present in London, Olympic and world 1500m medallist Laura Muir showed she is ready to try and improve on last year’s bronze in Eugene when she broke Zola Budd’s 38-year British mile record in Monaco.

Although Britain’s world 1500m champion Jake Wightman will not defend his title because of injury, Neil Gourley has made his podium ambitions clear.

Gourley finished third with a personal best of 3:30.60 on Sunday, which puts him within two seconds of all but Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen this year in what is often a tactically run event.

“I’d be selling myself short if I said I didn’t want to go to the World Championships and win a medal,” said British champion Gourley.

“It’s going to be incredibly difficult, but I feel like I’ve timed this season really well, so I’m excited about my chances.”

Sawyers expects to produce when it counts

European indoor champion Jazmin Sawyers produced a best leap of 6.67m to finish fourth in the women’s long jump as she edges closer to her tilt at a world title.

Having proven her podium pedigree by jumping 7m for the first time to win that first major title in March, she has not yet managed to replicate that form outdoors.

However, she remains confident she will find her best form when it matters.

“It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it’s a step back in the right direction and, when the champs come, I’ll be ready,” said Sawyers, who jumped 6.59m in Monaco.

Joining Sawyers in the London Diamond League long jump was former heptathlon world champion Katarina Johnson Thompson.

The 30-year-old, who won her world title in 2019 – a year before suffering a career-threatening Achilles rupture – finished fifth with a season-best of 6.60m.

Only American Anna Hall has recorded a higher heptathlon score than Johnson-Thompson this year – doing so in beating the Briton in Gotzis – leaving a podium place very much within her sights.

Olympic pole vault bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw will now focus on recovery after pulling out following her opening attempt on Sunday.

She later explained she had chosen not to risk injury, having felt “off” following a busy schedule.