Background: Emotions play a major role in the learning of pre-service teachers. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on emotion in the context of physical education (PE), especially during the practicum. Lazarus's model and its concepts of appraisal and coping is a salient theoretical framework for understanding the emotional process. Aim: To understand the role of personal and contextual factors in the emotional process experienced by pre-service teachers in PE. Participants: Contrasting case studies of two pre-service teachers in PE during their practicum at a secondary school in Belgium. Data collection and analysis: Participants were interviewed after viewing an audio-visual recording of a lesson they gave and encouraged to express the emotions and describe the strategies they used to cope with an unanticipated event called an "organizational critical incident" (OCI). The verbatim was analysed using QSR-NVivo software to describe these emotions, appraisals and coping strategies. Findings: Pre-service teachers experience emotional flux when they are involved in an OCI. They appraise the situation as being either a challenge or a threat. Perception of self-efficacy in classroom management and the ability to seize opportunities as they emerge in an unfolding situation are determinant factors in the choice of coping strategies. Conclusions: The study reveals that OCIs are experienced as negative emotional episodes, more or less intense. Immersed in such an emotional situation, the choice of a coping strategy is linked to personal factors, such as goal hierarchy and a perception of high self-efficacy, coupled with contextual factors, such as pupils' rate of activity.