This paper describes main sports institutions of the world which provide scientific maintenance of training and competitions for elite athletes: English Institute for Sport, Manchester; School of Sport,Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University; Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft; Institut für Angewandte Trainingswissenschaft; United States Olympic Training Centers; Sports Science Institute of North Africa, Newlands; Australian institute of Sport. Structures of sports science center has been studied, as well as main directions of their activity, links with governmental institutes, other scientific institutions, sports federations and so on.