Purpose: Lower back pain is one of the most common problems among athletes. At international level, regardless of the sport, 20% of adult athletes and 10-15% of adolescent athletes report lower back pain. This rate is steadily increasing, even with the invasive and non-invasive therapies currently available. In Hungary, 24% of national team athletes consult a physiotherapist for ongoing lower back pain, and more than half of these athletes (56%) report persistent pain. There is a growing emphasis on prevention in international and national sports health, but for these programmes to be successful we need to know the source of the problem. Materials and methods: We assessed the prevalence of non-specific lower back pain in Hungarian national team athletes. During our survey, we paid particular attention to pain experienced during the competition period, as well as pain intensity. We examined a total of 770 athletes, 184 of whom had undergone physiotherapy. Results: Our results show that the prevalence of non-specific lower back pain is high among elite athletes and is also strongly associated with the type of sport, x2(1) 5 14.17, P 5 0.007, ö 5 0.13, and gender, B 5 0.42, P 5 0.004, OR 5 1.53. Conclusion: Lower back pain is common among elite athletes and significantly affects both performance and quality of life. Our research confirms that both gender and type of sport have a significant influence on the development of lower back pain, particularly among athletes involved in combat sports. Given the high prevalence of lower back pain, prevention becomes even more crucial. Kulcsszavak: non-specific lower back pain, elite athletes, prevention