The Olympic Committee of Portugal marked its 106th anniversary with an awards ceremony in Lisbon ©COP

The Olympic Committee of Portugal (COP) marked its 106th anniversary with an awards ceremony in Lisbon, where sprint canoeist Fernando Pimenta and judoka Telma Monteiro were named the best male and female Portuguese athletes of 2015.

Pimenta won K1 1,000 metres bronze medals last year at both the World Championships in Milan and European Championships in Račice, Czech Republic with the former securing his country’s qualification for the event at Rio 2016.

The London 2012 Olympic silver medallist also came second in the K1 1,000m and K1 5,000m events at the Baku 2015 European Games in June, and was part of Portgual’s K4 1,000m team that finished runners-up at the European Championships.  

Monteiro went one better than Pimenta at the European Games, claiming gold in the under 57 kilogram category, and she went on to triumph at the Paris Grand Slam in October.

The five-time European champion ended the year third in the world rankings and although she wasn’t present to accept her award in Portugal’s capital, she recorded a video message to confirm her acceptance.

Among the other award winners were Fernanda Ribeiro, the 10,000m gold medallist at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, who received the Olympic Order Trophy in recognition of her career.

Four years after her triumph in Atlanta, which earned Portugal its third Olympic gold medal, Ribeiro took bronze in the same event at Sydney 2000.

She also won 10,000m European and world titles in 1994 and 1995 respectively, while back-to-back successes in the European Indoor Championships' 3,000m event came her way in 1994 and 1996.

Judoka Telma Monteiro was named Portugal's female athlete of the year
Judoka Telma Monteiro was named Portugal's female athlete of the year ©COP

Vanessa Fernandes, silver medallist in the women’s triathlon at Beijing 2008, was awarded the Merit Medal for her work to promote Olympism in her country.

Another triathlete, Melanie Santos, was named the young athlete of the year having won the bronze medal in the under-23 competition of both the World Cup and European Championships.

Santos' performances have seen her make the step up to elite level, and in October, she came out on top at the Africa Triathlon Union Sprint Triathlon African Cup in Larache, Morocco.

Manuel Ramos, founder and chief executive of canoe manufacturer NELO, received the 2015 International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sport and Innovation Trophy.

A total of 25 medals were won by NELO boat paddlers at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Ramos, known as NELO by his friends and family, is a former paddler and Portugal's first-ever canoeing national champion.