Introduction: Research on pre-competition emotional status of individual-event athletes is important for both mental skills training and psychological consultation. As such the pre-competition emotion was tested in Macao`s athletes during the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Methods 20 individual-event, amateur athletes who represented Macao for the 2006 Doha Asian Games were selected as participants for this study. Athletes` average age was 23.10±6.76 years and the average training years were 6.60±2.90 yrs. Seven of the athletes had previously participated in the Asian Games. CSAI-2 and pre-competition emotion Scale-S were conducted at 15-36 hrs, 4-14 hrs, and 1-3hrs before competition. A repeated measures ANOVA was analyzed with gender and competition experience as between-group variables and 3-time scores of all subscales of both tools as within-group variables. Results All athletes` had an average score for pre-competition emotion at the medium level. There was a significant interaction effect of period × competition experience on pre-competition cognitive anxiety (F(2,32) = 3.360; p = .047). Post profile analysis implied that the cognitive anxiety of inexperienced athletes occurred earlier than in their experienced peers. A significant interaction effect of period × gender × competition experience on pre-competition somatic anxiety was observed (F(2,32) = 5.625; p = .008). Post profile analysis implied that all athletes` somatic anxiety suddenly increased as the time got nearer to the competition. A significant main effect of period on self-confidence was observed (F(2,32) = 3.890; p = .031), while the post profile analysis implied that all athletes` self-confidence decreased as the time got nearer to the competition. A significant interaction effect of period × gender on individual failure anxiety was also observed, while the post profile analysis implied that female athletes` mental workload was heavier than their male peers. Conclusions Different patterns of cognitive and somatic anxiety in Macao`s individual-event athletes was observed, with cognitive anxiety varying for individuals from verging on stable, while somatic anxiety increases suddenly as the competition approaches in large-scale games. The self-confidence of the athletes was maintained at a medium level until declining as the competition approaches. The female athletes tended to be more worried about failure than the male athletes and the mid-level of pre-competition anxiety in Macao athletes may be due to their lack of power.
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