In 2013, the former Royal Gymnastic Central Institute, now the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), celebrated its bicentenary. The purpose of this paper is to describe, by means of a literature review, the holding blocks that have contributed to the continuity of the oldest institute for PE teacher education in the world. For the first hundred years Ling gymnastics represented a legitimate system for the schooling of the body, the promotion of health and the rehabilitation of the sick. This resulted in strong markers of exclusivity, keeping the institution together. The next hundred years saw the discontinuity of Ling gymnastics, including medical gymnastics, and a call for sport education. The new cornerstones were exercise science research and the establishment of the Institute as an autonomous university college with the assignment to meet society's continued need for knowledge of how to support healthy citizens. Today's challenges for GIH include dealing with a changing society, the conflicting dimensions of (competitive) sport, and the more philanthropic ideas of body and physicality.