Catalina Melendro Blanco

Pronouns: She/her
  • Research Associate (Safeguarding the Elite Pathway in Football)
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ORCiD Google Scholar
Catalina Melendro Blanco

Catalina Melendro Blanco is a Research Associate in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, working on Project StepChange (Safeguarding the Elite Player Pathway in Football) with Professor Daniel Rhind. She is a former Colombian national athlete with academic and professional experience across sport governance, safeguarding, and gender equality in both Global North and Global South contexts.

Catalina was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Master Scholarship and graduated with a joint master’s degree in Sport Ethics and Integrity from a European consortium comprising KU Leuven, Pompeu Fabra University, University of Mainz, Swansea University, and the University of the Peloponnese.

Prior to joining Loughborough University, Catalina worked as a university lecturer, sport governance advisor, and gender equality specialist within national and international organisations. Her previous roles include appointments with UN Women, the Colombian Ministry of Sport, the Royal Belgian Football Association, the Colombian Professional Football Division, Universidad Externado de Colombia, and the Academy of Leadership Sciences Switzerland. Her work has focused on governance reform, safeguarding, and gender equality within elite and institutional sport systems.

Catalina’s research focuses on sport governance, human rights, gender equality, and athlete safeguarding, with particular attention to gender-based violence, leadership cultures, and institutional accountability within Olympic and elite sport systems. Her work is informed by feminist, decolonial, and governance-based theoretical approaches.

Catalina’s research is guided by the aim of improving the lived experiences and wellbeing of the most vulnerable and marginalised populations. In particular, it focuses on the perspectives of individuals from equity-deserving and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, including women, LGBTQI+ people, Black, Indigenous and First Nations communities, people from the Global South, and people with disabilities within sport systems.

Her doctoral research examines safeguarding against gender-based violence within the Olympic Movement from intersectional, decolonial, and governance perspectives, with an empirical focus on Global South sport systems and leadership. Her research was awarded the PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant 2025 by the Olympic Studies Centre of the International Olympic Committee.

Catalina is actively engaged in academic, professional, and public-facing activities related to sport governance and athlete safeguarding. She is a member of the following expert and professional networks:

  • The Colombian Olympic Academy
  • The Olympic Studies Research Centre for Safe Sport and Human Rights
  • The Sports Ethics Examiner

She contributes regularly to national media in Colombia (including El Tiempo, El Espectador, and Win Sports) and to international media outlets (including France 24), providing expert commentary on Olympic studies, sport diplomacy, gender equality in sport, and athlete safeguarding. Her media contributions are delivered in Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese.

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