Founded on March 18, 1875, the Ginásio Clube Português (GCP) is a private, non-profit institution, endowed with Public Utility, which has played a decisive role in the development and promotion of Sport, Health and National Education. Based in Lisbon, Ginásio Clube Português is one of the oldest and most prestigious sports clubs in Portugal, having pioneered the concept of a club with sporting, social and cultural purposes.

It was at Ginásio Clube Português where most of the sports that are currently practiced in Portugal were born and where the portuguese Olympic Movement was born. In recognition of the unique work on behalf of sport, the International Olympic Committe has twice awarded Ginásio Clube Português with the attribution of the “Fearnley” Olympic Cup (1951) and the Olympic Cup (1981), trophies destined to award amateur clubs of recognized worldwide merit, and the GCP is the only Club in the world to hold this double distinction. Ginásio Clube Portugês has a long history of sporting success at national and international level, having won several titles and medals in national and international competitions, including presences and successes in world and European championships and also in Olympic Games. Over the years of existence, the sports activities practiced have increased. Currently, the GCP presents more than 50 different sports activities, maintaining in its genesis modalities such as Gymnastics, Fencing, Judo and Shooting, making the club the most eclectic in Portugal.

The sports area is undoubtedly the basis of Ginásio Clube Português, here both the training area and the competition play a fundamental role in the lives of our athletes. The objective of the Club is not only competitive in nature but also training, where we intend to provide our children and young people with tools capable of being successful in their sports, school and social life. For this, the GCP invests in its professionals in order to be able to promote, through its sports, in its athletes principles and values that have followed them into their adult life.

Although the genesis of the GCP is the sports area, the club is also recognized for its intervention in the area of exercise and health at national level. Here, it presents programs for special populations such as the Weight Management and Control Programme, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Breast Cancer, Childhood Obesity, Sports4all (inclusion project for people with disabilities) and a Running Club. In this way, the Exercise and Health area plays a fundamental role in promoting sports in a healthy and inclusive way, in line with the motto of the Ginásio Clube Português “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano”, which means “A healthy mind in a healthy body” in Latin. This motto reflects the Club’s objective of promoting the health and well-being of its members through the practice of physical activity and sport. In addition to the Sports and Exercise and Health area, the GCP also have an area dedicated to research. Under the motto: Applying Scientific Research in the Life Course Analysis of Exercise, Health and Sports Performance, the GCP Lab is a center of innovation and collaboration between researchers, health professionals, trainers and exercise physiologists, with the aim of responding to the needs raised by the Sports Training and Exercise and Health Departments.

The GCP asserts itself as the “Father” of National Sport, with the family and the well-being of the individual as its highest reference values. In its area of intervention, it is one of the largest Clubs of Portugal, today with around 8.000 members of all ages, 3641 active members practicing sports and physical activity at the club headquarters and even 2600 members in the swimming school of the Ginásio Clube Português. The Club is made up of a team of 224 emplyees and 156 teachers/coaches.