<p>The current study aimed to investigate the effect of competitive anxiety and coach leadership style on track and field athlete performance through the moderating role of coping strategies and emotional intelligence. The purposive sampling technique was used, and data was collected from 297 athlete students from 15 public universities in China. The Partial Least Squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on Smart PLS software version 4 was used to test the hypotheses. It was hypothesized that competitive anxiety and coach leadership style would significantly affect track and field athlete’s performance. The result revealed that coach leadership style has a positive and significant impact on athlete’s performance but competitive anxiety negatively affects athlete’s performance. Furthermore, the moderators used athlete coping strategies and emotional intelligence. The athlete coping strategies have a negative effect on the relationship between competitive anxiety and athlete performance and a positive effect on coach leadership style and athlete performance. Lastly, athlete emotional intelligence also negatively affects the relationship between competitive anxiety and athlete performance. Therefore, research findings propose that coaches ought to establish a nurturing team environment and embrace a constructive mindset to assist athletes in managing the stress of competition caused by their high performance standards. When coaches demonstrate a positive attitude and confidence, athletes may internalize this perspective and utilize it as a coping mechanism. Besides that, athletes need to understand the worth of different coping mechanisms and how much their anxiety levels affect their performance. Moreover, professional sports psychologists and trainers should work together to guide athletes toward reaching their full potential.</p>