Why do we choke under pressure?
All In The Mind
ABC Australia
4.5 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The siren has sounded. The scores are even. A footy player has one final chance to kick an easy goal to get his team into the finals.
He's right in front of the goals. He lines up. Kicks. Misses. The pressure of such a moment was phenomenal, and the player choked under it.
So what happens in the brain during such intense periods? Why can some people remain calm while others can't handle it?
This episode first aired in July 2024.
Guests:
Caroline AndersonPerformance psychologistLead psychologist for the Paris 2024 Australian Olympic Team
Dr Chris MesagnoSenior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology, Victoria University
Louise PotterFootballer and Darebin Falcons legend
Mary SpillaneClinical psychologist
Credits:
- Presenter: Sana Qadar
- Reporter/Producer: Belinda Smith
- Producer: Rose Kerr, Petria Ladgrove
- Sound engineer: Russell Stapleton
To view the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | ABC Listen, Podcasts, Radio, News, Music and more. |
| 0:08.1 | Anthony Burke here, host of By Design on ABC Radio National, |
| 0:13.3 | a show about the clever ideas and human stories behind the spaces, systems and objects |
| 0:19.4 | shaping everyday life. |
| 0:21.8 | Whether you're curious about architecture, interior design, fashion, or anything in between, |
| 0:27.1 | we reveal why design matters in a rapidly changing world. |
| 0:31.2 | By Design on ABC Listen. |
| 0:33.9 | Hey, it's Sana Khadar here. |
| 0:36.3 | As the 26 Winter Olympics come to a close, we wanted to revisit an episode from our archives about something familiar to many elite athletes. It's choking under pressure. I hope you enjoy the episode. Here it is now. |
| 0:51.2 | I used to get nervous for various competitions and events, but nothing does quite |
| 0:55.9 | compare to that moment of walking out to the Olympics. It's the 2004 Athens Olympics, and |
| 1:02.7 | Caroline Bartesek is stepping into the stadium for her first match. There's, of course, an amazing |
| 1:08.3 | excitement and thrill of it, but I also had this absolute sense of impending doom and dread, you know, heart racing, yeah, nausea. |
| 1:18.0 | Her sport is taekwondo and she's representing Australia in the women's welterweight division. |
| 1:22.7 | I was an individual sport and walking out there can feel an incredibly lonely place. |
| 1:29.5 | You know, you know that it's up to you, there's no one else there, you know the spotlights |
| 1:33.6 | on you so it can definitely feel really that sense of isolation and loneliness. |
| 1:39.7 | There's definitely the excitement of the roar of the crowd and knowing that my family and loved ones were, you know, I definitely |
| 1:45.8 | had people come over and travel to watch. |
| 1:48.2 | It would be Caroline's only |
| 1:49.7 | Olympic fight. She lost to Guatemala's |
| 1:52.2 | Heidi Juarez, who would end up |
... |
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