Obligatory: Not only rust would be faster than python, but Rust definitely makes it easy with Cargo. Go, C, C++ should all exhibit the performance you are seeing in uv, if it had been written in one of those languages.
The curmudgeon in me feels the need to point out that fast, lightweight software has always been possible, it's just becoming easier now with package managers.
I've programmed all those languages before (learned C in '87, C++ in 93, Go in 2015 or so) and to be honest, while I still love C, I absolutely hate what C++ has become, Go never appealed to me (they really ignored numeric work for a long time). Rust feels like somebody wanted to make a better C with more standard libraries, without going the crazy path C++ took.
Also this. I liked C (don't use it now, right now it is mostly Java) but C++ didn't appeal to me.
Rust is for me similar to C just like you wrote, it is better, bigger but not the overwhelming way like C++ (and Rust has cargo, don't know if C++ has anything).
I actually got interested in Rust because its integer types and the core data structures looked sane, instead of this insanity: https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/types/integer.html . Fluid integer types are evil.
I stayed for the native functional programming, first class enums, good parts of C++ and the ultimate memory safety.
OO is supposed to make life easier but C++ exposes all the complexity of the implementation to you. Its approach to hiding complexity is to shove it partially under a carpet with sharp bits sticking out.
That is exactly how I feel about it. I've always loved C for it's simplicity and Rust felt like an accidental love letter.
NOW? with package managers