Objective. Analysis of difficulties encountered by athletes in elite sport under modern socio-economic and political conditions. Меthods. Аnalysis of data of scientific and methodica l literature, inquiry, questionnaires.
Results.
Objective factors influencing the life and professional activity of Ukrainian athletes in different elite sports events (sports event specifics, age of engagement in sports activity, age of achievement of the first athletic successes, etc.), subjective factors (sports event selection, injuries and their consequences, causes of premature withdrawal, social adaptation after sports career termination, etc.) and objective-subjective factors (age of the highest sports achievements, age of withdrawal, combining sports career with education or work, sports injuries, etc.) have been singled out.
Conclusion. Problems and difficulties encountered by Ukrainian athletes at the current stage of elite sport development have been analyzed.