CPP has confirmed 13 of its athletes will receive scholarships this season ©CPP

The Paralympic Committee of Portugal (CPP) has announced that 13 scholarships will be awarded to Para-athletes in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Supported by the Santa Casa Games Education Scholarship Program in partnership with the Olympic Committee of Portugal and CPP, a total of 54 athletes will be supported this year by the grant going into the Olympics and Paralympics.

Paralympic athletes, including those with hearing impairments, were recognised in four sports - athletics, swimming, goalball and cycling.

Carina Paim, Carlos Freitas, David Grachat, Diogo Cancela, Fábio Oliveira, João Macedo, Miguel Cruz, Miguel Monteiro, Renata Pinto, Susana Veiga, Telmo Pinão, Tiago Neves and Tomás Delfim were all athletes who met the requirements to receive these scholarships.

Goalball is one of four Paralympic sports supported by the scholarship fund this year ©Getty Images
Goalball is one of four Paralympic sports supported by the scholarship fund this year ©Getty Images

A total of €147,000 (£132,000/$179,000) was distributed to aid athletes, preventing a premature abandonment of high performance sport or educational studies.

Most scholarship athletes are enrolled in undergraduate and master's degrees, of which athletes receive €3,000 (£2,700/$3,700) and part-time studying athletes receive €1,500 (£1,350/$1,830).

Over the years, the Santa Casa Games Education Scholarship Program has contributed to 325 scholarships across eight editions, awarding almost €1 million (£900,000/$1.22 million) to a total of 181 athletes.