Rhys McClenaghan has become the country's third gold medal winner in what is turning out to be a hugely successful Olympic Games for Team Ireland.
His score of 15.533 (difficulty 6.600 and execution 8.933) in Saturday afternoon’s pommel horse final was enough to take first place ahead of the competitors from Kazakhstan and USA.
One could say it's a medal that’s been three years in the making.
The Newtownards man was Commonwealth Games and European Games champion going into the Olympic Games three years ago and medal hopes were high.
However, a barely noticeable mistake and subsequent fall from the apparatus early in his routine saw his chances dashed, eventually finishing in seventh place.
That he has come back to conquer his sport is a surprise to no one who saw his interview with RTÉ Sport moments after that slip-up in Japan.
"I know that I'll feel disappointment but that's OK," McClenaghan, then 22, said stoically.
"When I do feel disappointment that's when I'm more motivated.
"This is a very early chapter in my gymnastics career.
"It didn't go my way. One finger placement is all it took to knock me off the horse."
Similar to the successes of swimmer Daniel Wiffen and boxer Kellie Harrington, a nation expected in Paris.
And that expectation is something that has never weighed heavily on the Down man’s shoulders.
Confidence is certainly a virtue when you are spinning your body around the horse knowing one tiny mistake can end your chances.
He’s been honing his craft since the age of six with Rathgael GC in Bangor.
"He was a nightmare, if I'm honest, climbing trees, doing double somersaults on his trampoline," his mother Tracy told RTÉ Sport of his early promise.
"He was doing gymnastics before he went to gymnastics, that's why we took him to gymnastics. We put him into gymnastics to try and keep him safe so I'm not sure if that's worked but that was the plan."
After receiving funding from Sport Ireland in 2018, he developed his technique and routine at the National Gymnastics Training Centre in Dublin.
Since his last Olympic outing, the 25-year-old has been busy becoming a double World and triple European champion.
He retained his World title from Liverpool in 2022 by beating the USA's Khoi Young and Jordan's Ahmad Abu Al-Soud in Antwerp last year.
McClenaghan's performance and score of 15.10 (6.4 for difficulty and 8.7 for execution) was described as "a clinic" by the commentator, who didn’t need to wait for the judges to proclaim the winner.
His bravery for taking on a more complex routine paid off.
Gymnastics, and pommel horse, is niche in this country and for Ireland to produce a competitor of his standing is an astounding feat, something McClenaghan acknowledged when he picked up the RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year award in December.
"It’s just incredible that I’m an Irish gymnast taking home world titles and that’s never been done before. I’m so proud to be able to do that," said McClenaghan, who revealed during the pandemic restrictions he became interested in astrophysics and astronomy.
While, it's one thing looking up at the stars, now the affable Irishman can say he has reached them.
It’s always been about the Olympic Games and excelling at the showpiece event; this victory will feel like a wrong put right.
Already a history maker, McClenaghan has assured his name will go down among the greats of Irish sport.
