Introduction: Today, athletics is the most popular sport. This sport is not considered dangerous, but it does not preclude professional sports injuries, both among beginners and professionals. Studies show that the main cause of injuries in athletics is overexertion of the musculoskeletal system. In all athletics, ankle and knee injuries are the most common, especially sprains and tears of the ligaments; tendons and tears of tendons, less often the muscles of the back of the thigh. This indicates that this problem requires well-established rehabilitation programs that will be created on the basic principles of the recovery process of the musculoskeletal system and will help athletes to return to active training as soon as possible.

Aim: Prevention of injuries and increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation measures for injuries of joints, ligaments and tendons of the lower extremities in the training of highly qualified athletes.

Materials and methods: To solve the tasks we have chosen the following methods: theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific and methodological literature; pedagogical observations; questionnaire of coaches and athletes; method of expert assessments; methods of mathematical statistics.

Results: The main aspects that are characteristic of injuries in athletics are injuries of mild and moderate severity. In the presence of these injuries, quite often the training process does not stop completely, but only becomes restrictive, which increases the risk of injury. In most cases, athletes are not provided with proper treatment and, accordingly, a set of rehabilitation measures is not carried out to eliminate residual effects after injuries of the musculoskeletal system. This in turn carries the risk of re-injury.

Conclusions: Based on the study of scientific and methodological literature, questionnaires of athletes and coaches, pedagogical observations, it can be argued that musculoskeletal overstrain is the most common cause of injury among athletes. High rates of temporary disability among athletes with musculoskeletal disorders indicate the need for further improvement of training methods for athletes, as well as the creation of unique rehabilitation and prevention programs for injuries of the musculoskeletal system in athletes.