Portuguese gymnastics breaks records in 2024 and plans for Gymnaestrada 2027
The year 2024 was truly historic for National Gymnastics, but the results were not only achieved on the floor. The Financial Report – now approved and published – shows what was a year full of records and growth.
Starting with the number of members, growth has been significant since the pandemic, a trend that has been confirmed once again. Last season, the Portuguese Gymnastics Federation registered a total of 24,107 gymnasts, 833 coaches, 401 judges, 335 officials and 266 affiliated clubs. But growth has not stalled, as evidenced by the 28,421 members it currently has.
“Our family has never been so big. We have never been so numerous, so united, and so strong. In 2024, we broke all records. We grew in terms of membership numbers, in all disciplines. Our community is more diverse and inclusive,” says Luís Arrais, President of the Portuguese Gymnastics Federation.
At major world events, our Senior National Teams proved to be strong and up to enormous challenges, starting with the Olympic Games in Paris, where Portugal made history. At just 18 years of age, Gabriel Albuquerque took 5th place in the Individual Trampoline, while Filipa Martins achieved the best result ever in Women's Artistic Gymnastics with a 20th place in the All-Around.
In addition to these results, we would also like to highlight the European Championship titles won by Pedro Ferreira in the Individual Trampoline and Tiago Sampaio Romão in the Double Mini Trampoline. As well as the World Championship title won by Gonçalo Parreira and Miguel Lopes in the Men's Acrobatic Gymnastics Pairs category.
Keeping its focus on the big stage, but in terms of organisation, in 2024 Portugal continued to be a benchmark in the organisation of international events, being one of the countries in the world with the most prominent competitions. In addition to the usual World Cups in Acrobatics (Maia), Aerobics (Cantanhede), Trampoline (Coimbra) and Rhythmic Gymnastics (Portimão), the Federation also held a World Cup in Parkour (Coimbra), the European Trampoline Championships (Guimarães) and the World Acrobatics Championships (Guimarães).
“2024 was also a fantastic year in terms of organising international events. We reiterate the confidence that European Gymnastics and the International Gymnastics Federation have in our organisations, our events, and our ability and competence to successfully organise events,” assured Teresa Loureiro, Vice-President of the FGP.
However, in most cases, the real challenge lies in sound and efficient financial management. According to the 2024 Financial Report, the FGP Heritage Fund reached a historic €1,056,670. Revenues grew by around 24%, economic profitability rose to 7.4% and net income increased by 36.5%. Fixed expenses reached their lowest ratio ever (22.2%) and own revenues almost doubled (68.8%), which allowed for an investment in disciplines of around 38.4%.
With an eye to the future, the Territorial Teams were ‘reinforced’ with an investment of €246,375 and 14 coaching courses, 8 refereeing courses, 53 training sessions, 5 specialised courses, 8 School Sports courses and 1 International Congress were held.
“The 2021-2024 cycle was simply historic. We adopted rigorous and strategic management, which strengthened the Federation's autonomy and propelled Portuguese gymnastics to heights never before reached. Gymnastics TV is an example of this. In just our second year of activity, we achieved a 500% increase in revenue, we have almost 700 pieces of content available, and we recorded a 150% increase in views,” confirms João Chú, Vice-President of the FGP.