FIH Olympic qualifiers: What men's qualification for Paris means for Irish hockey
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Watch: Ireland clinch Olympic place with victory over Korea
If history has taught us anything, it is that nothing comes easy for Ireland hockey.
And so it came to pass that the men's team had to win a dramatic tension-filled, seven-goal thriller against Korea to make the Paris Olympics.
That came just 24 hours after the women had lost a tight encounter to Great Britain, 2-1, that meant they failed to qualify. Two days earlier they had lost a shootout to Spain which, again, had they won then both teams would have been bound for the Olympics.
But none of this came as a surprise.
Four years ago the men lost to Canada in a shootout after they had controversially conceded a penalty stroke with just a couple of seconds left in the game.
The women revenged that loss a week later by defeating the Canadians in a dramatic shootout of their own to reach the Tokyo Games.
If we rewind history a little further the women won two shootouts on their way to that incredible World Cup silver medal in 2018 but lost another, in Valencia again, in 2015 that cost them a place in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
As for the men, well they lost out on the 2012 Games in London when Korea scored a goal with 12 seconds remaining in the qualification play-off final in Dublin.
It's a rollercoaster ride.
That sort of brings us full circle with Sunday's result in Valencia and it keeps up a run of success for Irish hockey which many other sports would be delighted with.
2015 - Ireland men win a bronze medal in the EuroHockey Championships
2016 - Ireland men qualify for Olympics in Rio
2017 - Both sides qualify for the 2018 World Cup
2018 - Ireland women win a World Cup silver medal
2019 - Ireland women qualify for Olympics in Tokyo
2021 - Ireland women qualify for 2022 World Cup
2022 - Ireland men win place in FIH Pro League
2024 - Ireland men qualify for Olympics in Paris
If, shall we say, a higher profile sport had been this successful or provided the dramatic moments, good and bad, that Irish hockey has done over the past decade, then they would be talked about the length and breadth of the country.
2024 Paris Olympics: Watch GB's women beat Ireland to qualify for Games
"We haven't maximised the success," said Irish coach Mark Tumilty shortly after leading the men to the Olympics.
"When you look back to 2015, there's a bronze medal at the Euros, in 2016 the men in Rio, the women's World Cup in 2018 which was an unbelievable achievement and then getting to Tokyo and now you've now got the men going to Paris.
"We haven't maximised it as best we could, but I do feel as an organisation, we're beginning to get the right people involved. And the challenge is to try and compete against those other sports that are growing as well.
"I think we've got an excellent sport. There's not many sports today that will produce a 4-3 scoreline in a high-profile game for 60 minutes with goalscoring opportunities and such excitement.
"If that had been one of our major sports, people would be rattling away about one of the best games ever. So I do think we have challenges, but I think we're beginning to get the right people in place to embrace those challenges."
The numbers of those participating in the sport are still high but some clubs have seen membership decrease, especially among men.
Tumilty continues: "That's why it was very important the men did qualify for the Olympics. Numbers are dwindling. You see clubs reducing the number of sides playing each week.
"We need to grow the sport and produce players for Ireland. So there's challenges but I think the thought process is right, which is a start. We now just need to implement it."
Ireland men's coach Mark Tumilty will lead his side to the Paris Olympics
Hockey now has that opportunity again with the men's team not only heading to Paris for the Olympics but before that they'll make their FIH Pro League debut next month in India.
They will be facing the very best sides in the world between February and May and, while there may be some painful defeats, there may also be some significant wins. At the very least, the Irish players will be exposed to the best in the world which will only serve as an excellent learning process even before Paris.
The women will take a while to get over the enormous disappointment of missing out. As someone who went through the same agony four years ago, Tumilty offered this advice:
"It's a difficult thing to process. High performance is difficult as well. It's also because we focus so much on the Olympic cycle.
"I'm not a great advocate of us focusing so much on the cycle. I think we just try to be the best that we can be and if that fits within a cycle or doesn't fit within a cycle, that's grand.
"From my point of view, always get back on the bike, let's go again, let's get back on the hockey pitch. And I even think for some of the girls, just get back into your club hockey and be in an environment where it's fun, it's not as high pressure and then make the decision that, 'you know what, I'm not going to be here again and I'm not going to have that disappointment again'.
"And it's not that they did anything wrong but it's tough in high performance sport. We got across the line, they did the last time, they got into the shootout and we didn't.
"I think there are challenges and our challenges include getting there without those narrow margins. I think the goal for Hockey Ireland is that both teams consistently get to major tournaments, World Cups and Olympic Games."
The women will next compete in June in the Nations Cup when, based on their performances of this week and the opposition they'll face, they will have a great chance of gaining promotion to the Pro League which would be a huge step forward in their development.
While those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, there is plenty of optimism that Irish hockey has learnt from the past and, having come so close to getting both teams at an Olympics for the first time, there is a real chance it can happen in Los Angeles in 2028.
And hopefully without a shootout…