History Main / SecondPlaceIsForLosers

Contrast TheRunnerUpTakesItAll, SecondPlaceIsForWinners. Compare and contrast DisqualificationInducedVictory.

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', one league contender believes hard in this -- Guzma in ''Sun and Moon'' (as Plumeria finds out seeing dozens of broken second place trophies and silver medals in his room), which may explain why [[spoiler:he broke off from his apprenticeship with Hala]] and formed Team Skull.

* This is basically ComicBook/DoctorDoom's fatal flaw. Yes, he's a brilliant scientist, a powerful sorcerer, and the ruler of a successful nation... but because there's always ''someone'' who is [[AlwaysSecondBest better than him]] at each of those things (Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, [[ArchNemesis Reed Richards]], Black Panther, and ''especially'' [[RuleOfThree Reed Richards]]) his ego does not allow him to leave well enough alone. Never mind that his rivals only best him in one field each, being merely a MasterOfAll just isn't good enough for him.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' has its famous ''Green With Evil'' storyline that introduced the very first SixthRanger. It begins with Jason facing Tommy, a new kid in town, in a martial arts contest which ultimately ends in a tie. As Jason returns to his friends, the first words that come out of his mouth are "I didn't win." Granted, he doesn't dwell on it anymore after this one moment, but it's still an odd thing for a character like Jason to be concerned about.
** In the later series ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'', resident egotistical JerkJock Victor Vincent loses his title as the school's tennis champion in "Abrakadanger". Subverted in that it's his sidekick Monty who is dismayed that "You came in last", while Victor, though still annoyed at his loss (since winning would have earned him his fiftieth trophy), accepts the ribbon and reminds Monty that "It says second".

* The Argentina National Football Team is considered one of the most important national teams in the world and a powerhouse of South American football ever since its inception. However, the last international championship they've won has been the 1993 Copa América. Ever since then, they've reached four Copa América finals (2004, 2007, 2015, 2016) and a FIFA World Cup final (2014) and lost them all while boasting some of the highest-profiled, highest-paid, and most celebrated players in the world in their ranks ever since the '90s. Though there have been call-outs about the players' lack of commitment to the national colors, it's largely blamed on AFA's mismanagement of the team and lacklustre oversight over benefits and logistics.

* Eduardo from WebAnimation/EddsWorld takes this philosophy to heart, though it’s eventually revealed that it’s [[spoiler: due to constant bullying as a kid due to coming in second place in an art contest.]]

* '''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''':

* Presidential elections. Even if you have a distinguished political career and win a hard-fought primary to secure your party's nomination, you'll still be a loser in the eyes of history unless you win the general election.
** To add insult to injury, in the country's earliest elections (prior to a change in the election system), the prize for coming in second was getting the oh-so-glamorous position of... [[VicePresidentWho Vice-President!]]

** Averted in the actual Top Gun school: Pilots are sent to the school to learn dissimilar combat training skills, which they return to their squadrons to teach to the other pilots in their squadron. There is no contest nor a trophy. In essence, Top Gun is a school to teach fighter pilots how to teach. If it were a contest, pilots would go to extremes to win [[CompletelyMissingThePoint instead of learning techniques to teach their squadron mates]].

* In ''Fanfic/MemoirsOfAMaster'', Oogway turned down Tai Lung as the Dragon Warrior, but he was planning to dub him Master of the Thousand Scrolls instead for his unprecedented feat mastering them. However, when Tai Lung began his rampage, it was obvious he would not have settled for that.

** This is Rainbow Dash's general attitude, considering her cutie mark appeared when she was winning her first race.

* Ayaka, the protagonist of ''Manga/AnoKoNiKisuToShirayuriWo'', considers being second in the exams the ultimate dishonor and will work herself to death to repair this anomaly. Even when the n°1 is TheAce and almost had ''the maximum score'' minus 2 points. Yurine wishes nothing more than for Ayaka to best her though, and falls in love with her partly for this reason.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Grand Prix", Arnold's team takes second place behind the team of Helga and Phoebe. Eugene, who drove the second half of the race, is excited to have take second and finished in a kart that was falling apart, but teammate Stinky complains that they didn't win. To be fair, Eugene is known for his [[TheJinx habit of jinxing everything he touches]] (including the aforementioned nearly-destroyed kart) coupled with his [[WideEyedIdealist irritatingly optimistic attitude]], which might explain Stinky's sour mood about the outcome.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''

** In ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown is a competitor in the National Spelling Bee Championship and ends up second and feels like a miserable failure. However, this is a rather bizarre conclusion considering that, while misspelling a relatively easy word like "beagle" is embarrassing (especially when his pet Snoopy is one), the fact remains that Charlie Brown beat out almost all the top contenders in the entire country and that surely should count for something.

** Going back to an earlier era, Czechoslovak gymnast Věra Čáslavská was very unhappy about her silver-medal finish in the balance beam final and gold-medal tie in the floor final at the 1968 Olympics, despite winning gold in the other three individual finals, and made no efforts to hide it. In her case, it's [[JustifiedTrope understandable]]: both of those finishes were [[CrackDefeat highly questionable]] (the floor final especially, where a gymnast's score from an earlier round was ''[[RetCon retroactively boosted]]'' to the exact number needed to put her in a tie with Čáslavská), and both decisions were to the benefit of Soviet gymnasts, a country which Čáslavská had a personal hatred for as they had recently invaded her homeland.

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'': Subverted. Lazlo's team finished in the middle of the pack, while Edward's got first place. However, their 2nd place trophy was ''bigger'' than Edward's 1st place trophy. Even [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins Chip and Skip]], who got last place, have a bigger trophy than Edward.

** When the US Women's gymnastics team made history at the 1996 Atlanta Games by winning the first team gold, the Russian and Romanian teams (the silver and bronze medal, respectively) were shown to be in tears, clearly feeling this way.

** The 2013 Denver Broncos arguably had the most prolific offense of all time, with quarterback Peyton Manning throwing an NFL-record 55 touchdown passes. They won 13 games, secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and beat Tom Brady and the Patriots in the AFC title game. The season is mostly remembered for a different kind of history, however. The Seattle Seahawks drubbed the Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII, one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history.
** The 2015 Carolina Panthers were one of only seven NFL teams in history to win 15 games in a regular season. Little is remembered about that season today except for a sullen press conference by quarterback Cam Newton following a 24-10 loss to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

** Ironically, Liverpool had not been champions of English football since the 1989-90 season, even before the Premier League era, and they're the highest profiled of the Big Six of English football that have never won it (the other being Spurs). In the meantime, they've been surpassed by Manchester United in the most titles won race due to the efforts of Sir Alex Ferguson, and have come close to winning it in the 2013-14 and 2018-19 seasons, but having won 10 domestic cup titles and 5 European competition including 2 Champions Leagues and 1 [=UEFA=] Cup. In the 2019-20 Premier League, this streak finally came to an end, as they finally were crowned champions of England.
* Averted by the Croatian basketball team in 1992; they talked about how happy they were to be winning silver ''before the gold medal game was even played''. They were going up against the DreamTeam led by UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, and had no illusions about winning. In the event, they put out a respectable performance.
* A quarter of a century later, the Croatian Soccer team lost the 2018 World Cup final to France. While the team did look disappointed during the presentation ceremony itself, that soon evaporated. [[https://www.balls.ie/football/lose-world-cup-final-392896 The Croatian capital had scenes of celebration.]]. After all, gritty, hard fighting underdog representing a small nation of 4 million don't usually reach a World Cup Final.
* UsefulNotes/LebronJames is a straight example. Because of the constant expectation and pressure to be the best of his generation, and the critics comparing him to UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Kobe Bryant, just to name a few, he is very disappointed when he comes up short in the basketball season, despite reaching the Finals for majority of his career and winning 3 of them.

* A great {{aver|tedTrope}}sion is the 2008 Summer Olympics and the Men's 100m sprint in track and field, which was dominated by Usain Bolt (who got a world record at 9.69s effortlessly). But the silver medalist, Walter Dix of Trinidad and Tobago, acted like ''he'' won the gold after edging American bronze medalist Rudy Gay. Even Gay didn't look very heartbroken.

* Canadian swimmer Elaine Tanner came into Mexico City 1968 as a heavy favorite and returned home with 3 medals, 60% of the country's tally that edition. But given none were gold, she was deemed a disappointment, nobody received her back home, and led to depression and retirement at just 18 - and [[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/jul/13/elaine-tanner-olympic-heartbreak one hell of a]] TraumaCongaLine life, where she even considered suicide before meeting her current husband. [[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/no-shame-in-silver-medal-tanner-tells-team-canada/article11181503/ Tanner later said]] to be relieved to see Canada celebrating silver medals in later Olympics, but cringed at seeing Nike promoting Atlanta 1996 with billboards saying: “You don’t win silver – you lose gold.”

* The Brooklyn Dodgers were called "Dem Bums" in part because they would repeatedly win a league pennant before losing the World Series after, mostly against the Yankees. The Dodgers would finally win the World Series in 1955 before losing again in 1956 and moving to Los Angeles a few years later.
* Similar to the Yankees, if a Canadian national hockey team doesn't win a tournament they're playing in, it's deemed a failure. If enough of the various tournaments (IIHF Junior, Men's/Women's Olympic, World Cup) are lost in a row, a national discussion on whether we're "losing our game" ensues. The fact that on the UsefulNotes/{{N|ationalHockeyLeague}}HL side of things the last Canadian team to win the Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 doesn't help; the national teams are supposed to bring redemption for Canada's "NHL failures". Doesn't mean the wins aren't [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuJH2WXJGHI appreciated.]] The irony of this situation is that even now when players come from all over the world to play hockey in the NHL, the league is still slightly over 50% Canadian. In short, even when American teams win in the NHL, Canada still technically wins because as often as not, more than half of the players on the winning team are Canadian.
* Dale Earnhardt was often quoted saying "Second place is just the first loser".

* The 2013 [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar Indianapolis 500]] was Carlos Munoz's first-ever and his first time in an Indycar race (Indy Lights notwithstanding), yet he managed to finish second behind Tony Kanaan. Most people would have been thrilled with this result, but he was disappointed with himself for not winning.

* The almost eternal "curse" of the Chilean soccer club [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Deportivo_Universidad_Catolica Universidad Católica]], which finished '''fourty-four''' times as second place in diverse Chilean championships until they finally won in April 2016. From [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]:

* Mexican side Cruz Azul won their last [=LigaMX=] championship in 1997, and never again. They have reached the finals six times ever since then (1999, 2008-I, 2008-II, 2009-I, 2013-II, 2018-I), losing them all. What makes it more aggravating is that in most of those tournaments (and in 2011-I, where they didn't reach the final) they '''completely''' dominated the table and showed the makings of champions, only to lose them miserably in the final. A verb ("Cruzazulear" or ''to-Cruz-Azul'') has been colloquially coined by Mexican fans to describe domineering teams that lose at the very last minute.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown is a competitor in the National Spelling Bee Championship and ends up second and feels like a miserable failure. However, this is FridgeLogic considering that while misspelling a relatively easy word like "beagle" is embarrassing (especially when his pet Snoopy is one), the fact remains that Charlie Brown beat out almost all the top contenders in the entire country and that surely should count for something.

* ''Defied'' in a short campaign of Snapple ads from the '90s, where they claimed their ''stated goal'' was to be the ''number three'' soft drink in the country, because it's an easier title to keep. (It didn't go over well.)

* In Manga/{{Bakuman}} Mashiro and Takagi are crushed to learn that they got third place with "The World is All About Money And Intelligence," (losing to [[TheRival Eiji]] and someone else) even though it surpasses all their previous efforts, since it means they will not be able to submit it for serialization. Otherwise, this trope is largely averted with a few exceptions (mainly Iwase), as when the main characters are starting out and want to get up past ninth place, Miura tells them that rather than try desperate tactics to go up, they should maintain their ranking, as anything above 10th place will not come up for cancellation.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has [[spoiler:[[TheAce Keith Goodman/Sky High]]]] struggling with this after [[spoiler:Barnaby Brooks Jr. takes his place as the highest ranking superhero]]. However, being the NiceGuy to end all {{Nice Guy}}s, he's not angry over no longer being the best so much as he's afraid that he can no longer live up to the expectations people have for him.

** In fact, Goku's lost in the 21st Tournament was to Master Roshi himself (in the guise of Jackie Chun), specifically because he wanted to teach Goku and Krillin ''not'' to go through this trope since there's AlwaysSomeoneBetter''. As demonstrated above, it didn't take, but years later Goku responds to the idea of stronger opponents with [[BloodKnight child-like enthusiasm]].
** Vegeta's primary story arc throughout ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' is that he ''hates'' being AlwaysSecondBest to Goku in power; in his view, Goku is a lower-class Saiyan, born at the absolute bottom of the pecking order, and thus should be a nobody while he's the Saiyan prince and should be the strongest by default. It all reaches a head in the Buu Saga, where he [[DealWithTheDevil sells his soul to Babidi]] for the sake of becoming stronger than Goku, and during then subsequent fight, he goes off on a furious rant about how [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence Goku's very existence is an insult to his honor]] and how he's ''done'' being second to him.

* [[Creator/CarlBarks Scrooge McDuck's]] rival Flintheart Glomgold is the Second Richest Duck in the world, Scrooge being the richest. [[Fiction500 Given how rich Scrooge is]], that's no easy feat. An EvilCounterpart of Scrooge, Flintheart is depicted as a miser, plutocrat, and tycoon, every negative quality associated with wealth, and despite having more money that most countries, is obsessed with surpassing his rival as the richest. He has been known to be willing to undertake ''any'' endeavor, no matter how dishonest, unethical, or illegal they are to meet this goal. How one man (or rather, one duck) could be so shallow is a mystery best left unexplored.\\\
Creator/DonRosa's epic ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' actually explores this and reveals Glomgold's origins. He was a petty thief from South Africa during the diamond rush in the late 19th century, and made a living through grifting, small theft and conjobs. That is, until he met Scrooge, whom he promptly betrayed and robbed. When Scrooge hunted him down and humiliated him in front of the entire town before having him tossed in jail, Glomgold became so infuriated [[EvilIsPetty that he dedicated his entire life to building a fortune just to get revenge on Scrooge.]] Scrooge doesn't even know that his arch-enemy was that random jerk he met some 40 years ago, since he never got his name, and likely doesn't even remember the incident. The only reason Glomgold gives a single shit about being the Richest Duck In the World is because he wants to humiliate Scrooge.
* An ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' story in the 1970s had Reggie, Riverdale High's ace athlete suffering a sprained ankle just before a decathalon competition against Central High. Archie is recruited to replace Reggie with the result of Archie coming in second and third, time after time, event after event. But this competition is judged on the points system. Dilton Doiley points out that Archie's constant second and third place finishes add up which gives Riverdale High the victory. Reggie--on crutches--is livid as Archie is hoisted on the shoulders of the school faculty in victory.

* ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' "If you ain't first, you're last." Ricky Bobby bases his entire life on this one phrase his father told him, and earnestly believes it to the point that he can't deal with the idea of someone being better than him. He has a nervous breakdown when he wrecks in his first race against Jean Girard and needs training just to know how to go fast again. [[spoiler:Subverted later on in the movie when Ricky's Dad says "Oh hell, Son, I was high that day. That doesn't make any sense at all, you can be second, third, fourth... hell, you can even be fifth."]]

* Averted in ''Film/FiredUp'', in which a perpetually losing squad [[spoiler:ends up nineteenth in a tournament, but the captain feels it's an accomplishment, because it's ten places better than the previous year]].

* First played straight, then ''gloriously'' subverted in ''Film/WhipIt''. In Bliss' first game, the LovableLoser Hurl Scouts celebrate with "We're Number Two!" after losing, but it's largely an ego defense against the fact that they haven't won a game in several years. In the championship game the celebration is more true-to-form (and true-to-derby) in that the Hurl Scouts played themselves from Oh-for-three-years losers to ''second place in the entire league'' (of six teams).
* Averted in ''[[Film/Rush2013 Rush]]'': James managed to fight his way to a high enough position to take the championship from Niki at the final race in Japan, but Niki [[spoiler: (who suffered a massive crash that burned him alive midway through the season, and who later withdrew from the Japanese GP because he felt it was too dangerous)]] was just glad he was alive to try again next year, and tells his wife Marlene he has no regrets [[spoiler:about withdrawing from Japan]]. For what it's worth, Niki was ''defending'' champion, and would later get two more titles in real life.
* Played with in ''Film/BeyondTheLights''. Ten-year-old Noni is proud to be named the first runner-up in a talent contest. Macy, on the other hand, is so disgusted that she forces her daughter to chuck her trophy.

* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears:'' This is zigzagged in one of the chapter books. There's an auto show going on, and local tycoon Squire Grizzly has enter his four best cars (all extremely rare and well-maintained) in order to ensure that he wins all three trophies for first, second and third. At the end of the book, Papa Bear's roadster (the last car made by a well-known car company before it went out of business) manages to win third. Papa is happy with winning third given how stiff the competition was, while the Squire is envious about not winning all three trophies for the best cars in the country.

* Subverted in ''Bill's New Frock'' by Anne Fine. During a race in gym class, all the other kids agree that they will let a disabled boy win, but because of this trope Bill can't bear to come second and so he speeds up and wins. However, the disabled boy is ''thrilled'' with second place because it's the best performance he has ever made in the class.

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek: Balance of Power'', an auction is selling off a well-known inventor's works to the highest bidder. The coveted lot is a WaveMotionGun, with the Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Cardassian governments all bidding on it. The auctioneer invokes a rule that requires the second highest bid to pay up as well, without getting anything in return. This works to drive up the price of the item. [[spoiler:Picard (representing the Federation) and Worf (representing the Klingons) agree to pool their latinum into a single high bid to overcome the Cardassian bid, resulting in the Cardassian representative being forced to fork over a ''lot'' of latinum for nothing. But then the photon pulse cannon turns out to be a dud. Luckily, they come up with a way to screw over the Cardassians yet again by having a Ferengi "steal" the plans for the cannon and sell it to the same Cardassian representative.]]

** In the 2018 World Championships, the Russian men's team lost to China by less than half a tenth of a point and they took it quite badly. Artur Dalaloyan in particular spent a long time crying and unable to stand up. The situation reversed the following year, when Russia won over China and Sun Wei had the same exact reaction.

** The 2004 Philadelphia Eagles had one of the best seasons in the history of the franchise. They won 13 games in the regular season (a team record at the time), and had finally managed to win the NFC title game after losing it in the three consecutive years prior. Still, the most indelible memory of that magical season was team's horrible mismanagement of the clock and quarterback Donovan [=McNabb's=] apparent fatigue in Super Bowl XXXIX.

** The 2018 Los Angeles Rams were led by Sean [=McVay=], who at 33 years old was the league's youngest head coach, and his team put up a whopping 527 points in the regular season, and an extra 56 points between their two playoff games against the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. That made him the youngest coach to reach the Super Bowl, the team's first in 17 years, facing the team that defeated them last time at Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots. Despite sloppy play by both teams, the Patriots once again defeated them 13-3 at Super Bowl LIII, tying the lowest losing score with the Miami Dolphins at Super Bowl VI. It didn't help that during the NFC Championship Game against the Saints, the Rams were guilty of an overlooked pass-interference call, which made many people, especially Saints fans, feel that they didn't deserve to play in the Super Bowl.

** Ironically, Liverpool had not been champions of English football since the 1989-90 season, even before the Premier League era, and they're the highest profiled of the Big Six of English football that have never won it (the other being Spurs). In the mean time, they've been surpassed by Manchester United in the most titles won race due to the efforts of Sir Alex Ferguson, and have come close to winning it in the 2013-14 and 2018-19 seasons, but having won 10 domestic cup titles and 5 European competition including 2 Champions Leagues and 1 [=UEFA=] Cup. In the 2019-20 Premier League, this streak finally came to an end, as they finally were crowned champions of England.
* Averted by the Croatian basketball team in 1992; they talked about how happy they were to be winning silver ''before the gold medal game was even played''. They were going up against the DreamTeam led by UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, and had no illusions about winning. In the event they put out a respectable performance.

* UsefulNotes/LebronJames is a straight example. Because of the constant expectation and pressure to be the best of his generation, and the critics comparing him to UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Kobe Bryant, just to name a few, he is very disappointed when he comes up short in the basketball season, despite reaching the Finals for majority of his career, and winning 3 of them.
* The 1972 United States Olympic basketball team still has not accepted their silver medals, as they contend the officials in the gold-medal game against the Soviet Union robbed them[[note]]the appeal the US filed with FIBA was also denied – though the five-man jury's chairman, Ferenc Hepp, refused to reveal the exact vote, between Hepp (Hungary) stating he voted in favor of the Soviets, Rafael Lopez (Puerto Rico) and Claudio Coccia (Italy) both saying they voted for the US, and the other two (Adam Baglaewski, Poland; Andres Keiser, Cuba) being from Soviet-friendly countries, it's accepted as fact that the vote was along Cold War lines[[/note]]; the medals remain in a Swiss vault. They don't intend to do so any time soon: one player has even written into his will that his relatives and descendants are ''forbidden'' from accepting the medal on his behalf when he dies. [[note]]Whether it was a bad call or not is subjective, depending on the point of view; with three seconds remaining, the Soviet team attempted to call a time-out; because it was during a free throw with the clock running, and such a time out is is not permitted, it was not granted. But then a second referee recognized the time out, because the Soviet coach ran onto the field, committing another foul. ''Then'' because of this, William Jones, head of the International Amateur Basketball Federation, told the scoreboard officials to set it to three seconds even though he had ''absolutely no authority whatsoever to do so'', which he later openly admitted. Nonetheless, the time was restarted, and as a result, the Soviet team won 51–50.[[/note]]

* Nancy Kerrigan clearly had this feeling after winning the silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, given her snarky to the point of cruelty comment regarding gold medalist Oksana Baiul's uncontrollable weeping as well as the clearly displeased expression that she wore throughout. It's slightly understandable given that (a) she lost the gold by a ridiculously slim margin (a mere tenth of a point gave Baiul the gold), (b) skated what is unanimously believed to be her best performance yet, and (c) a myriad of problems had to be overcome – succumbing to nerves, a polemic attack and subsequent physical injury, tremendous pressure to win. Still, petty and needless as Hell, [[NeverLiveItDown and the skating fandom hasn't forgotten it]].

* Canadian swimmer Elaine Tanner came into Mexico City 1968 as a heavy favorite, and returned home with 3 medals, 60% of the country's tally that edition. But given none were gold, she was deemed a disappointment, nobody received her back home, and led to depression and retirement at just 18 - and [[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/jul/13/elaine-tanner-olympic-heartbreak one hell of a]] TraumaCongaLine life, where she even considered suicide before meeting her current husband. [[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/no-shame-in-silver-medal-tanner-tells-team-canada/article11181503/ Tanner later said]] to be relieved to see Canada celebrating silver medals in later Olympics, but cringed at seeing Nike promoting Atlanta 1996 with billboards saying: “You don’t win silver – you lose gold.”

* Similar to the Yankees, if a Canadian national hockey team doesn't win a tournament they're playing in, it's deemed a failure. If enough of the various tournaments (IIHF Junior, Men's/Women's Olympic, World Cup) are lost in a row, a national discussion on whether we're "losing our game" ensues. The fact that on the UsefulNotes/{{N|ationalHockeyLeague}}HL side of things the last Canadian team to win the Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 doesn't help; the national teams are suppose to bring redemption for the Canada's "NHL failures". Doesn't mean the wins aren't [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuJH2WXJGHI appreciated.]] The irony of this situation is that even now, when players come from all over the world to play hockey in the NHL, the league is still slightly over 50% Canadian. In short, even when American teams win in the NHL, Canada still technically wins because as often as not, more than half of the players on the winning team are Canadian.

** A popular saying among NASCAR fans is that "No one remembers who finished second in the Daytona 500". Which is ironic given that one of things Earnhardt is remembered for is finishing second in the Daytona 500 over and over and over...

* The Bayer Leverkusen squad which finished second in in all three of the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League and the domestic German cup in the same season was nicknamed "Neverkusen" by the media, even though it was probably the best season in the whole history of the team.

* The 2013 [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar Indianapolis 500]] was Carlos Munoz's first ever and his first time in an Indycar race (Indy Lights notwithstanding), yet he managed to finish second behind Tony Kanaan. Most people would have been thrilled with this result, but he was disappointed with himself for not winning.
* When Denmark lost the final of the 2011 handball world championships, the Danish star player Mikkel Hansen quickly took off his silver medal. The story goes that he tossed it into Øresund[[note]]the world Championships in 2011 took place in Sweden, and Denmark played almost every game in Malmö, which is linked to Copenhagen by bridge[[/note]]. He also took it off after the lost final in 2013, and put it under his tracksuit after the loss at the european championships in 2014. Hansen does not like silver medals.

-->"Since 2012, the club has always been in the fight for the championship, however, by one reason or the other, it has been unable to finish first, thus becoming the target of jokes by its rivals and adopting a reputation of a "2nd place team". The lack of titles and frustrating important match losses against bitter rivals and smaller clubs, has infuriated a demanding fan base that is now looking for changes at the top level. The hard core fans have been expressing their anger at the games by blaming the club's executives for keeping the club between the elite, not opening up the club to the masses, lack of investment in acquisition of players and poor decisions in the acquisition of a few foreign players that were not up to the club's standards."
* The most famed curse in football/soccer belongs to the Portuguese side S.L. Benfica. After considerable success in European competitions in the 1960's, coach Bela Guttmann quit the club after an argument with the club's board of directors over his wages. He proceeded to say that Benfica would not be European champions in 100 years, in what became known as "The Curse of Bela Guttmann". Ever since then, Benfica have reached five European Championship finals (1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990) and three UEFA Cup/Europa League finals (1983, 2013, 2014), losing them all. We're barely past half a century into the curse, approaching 60 years now while Benfica still waits.
* The famed Italian side Juventus F.C. has lost the European Championship/UEFA Champions League a record seven times, the most ever, while winning it twice. They've lost five finals (1996–97, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2014–15, 2016–17) ever since their last win in 1995-96. While there is merit in those accomplishments (as their fans argue), they are far behind AC Milan and behind Inter Milan in European competitions, the latter two's fans arguing that Juventus' second places mean considerably less than Juventus' fans would like to think.
* Mexican side Cruz Azul won their last [=LigaMX=] championship in 1997, and never again. They have reached the finals six times ever since then (1999, 2008-I, 2008-II, 2009-I, 2013-II, 2018-I), losing them all. What makes it more aggravating is that in most of those tournaments (and in 2011-I, where they didn't reach the final) they '''completely''' dominated the table and showed the makings of champions, only to lose them miserably in the final. A verb ("Cruzazulear" or ''to-Cruz-Azul'') has been coloquially coined by Mexican fans to describe domineering teams that lose at the very last minute.

* Colombian side Atlético Nacional, though being successful in Copa Libertadores (having won twice), has reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana three times, losing two (to Argentina's San Lorenzo (2002) and River Plate (2014)), and ceding the dispute of the 2016 title to Brazil's Chapecoense due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933 a plane crash that killed most of the Brazilian team]] while en-route to Colombia to play the first leg of the finals. The gesture was greatly received, and earned the Colombian team [=CONMEBOL=]'s Centennial Fair Play Award, and a well deserved place in the history of the competition. The gesture was made further special due to the fact that Atletico Nacional was the last ever South American team to have had the opportunity of winning a continental treble of Libertadores/Sudamericana/Recopa in 2016 had they won against Chapecoense (as they had won the Copa Libertadores earlier in the year, and won the Recopa later against the same rivals), and could have played for an intercontinental flush in the FIFA Club World Cup that would take place some weeks after the Sudamericana finals. At the Club World Cup, the Colombians were defeated 0-3 by Japan's Kashima Antlers, and reached the 3rd place after defeating America de Mexico on penalties. '''No South American side ever won the Libertadores/Sudamericana/Recopa treble''', and due to the fact that the scheduling format for the South American competitions was changed in 2017 (as Sudamericana and Libertadores did not use to overlap), the possibility of any other team winning a continental treble became impossible because the tournaments became simultaneous.
* The Argentina National Football Team is considered one of the most important national teams in the world and a powerhouse of South American football ever since its inception. However, the last international championship they've won has been the 1993 Copa América. Ever since then, they've reached four Copa América finals (2004, 2007, 2015, 2016) and a FIFA World Cup final (2014) and lost them all while boasting some of the highest-profiled, highest-paid and most celebrated players in the world in their ranks ever since the 90's. Though there have been call-outs about the players' lack of commitment to the national colors, it's largely blamed on AFA's mismanagement of the team and lacklustre oversight over benefits and logistics.

* In one mission in ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'', you are trying to get a runner with a cold back to health in order to win the big race. Depending on how well you do, he reacts with roughly equal enthusiasm to winning Gold or Silver, but is very distraught to have only won 3rd, even if that is pretty good for someone who just got over a cold.

* ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' includes an achievement called "First Loser" for having the second highest point total in the match. Although this goes against a theme of the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' series, which usually rewards teamwork and downplays individual skill. Also, get this achievement if you are the best player on the ''winning team'' but were bested by someone on the losers.

* In ''The Fast And The Furious'' ([=PS2=]) you can only fight against other car. Since there is always only one other car you race against this means that ending second place will always be a failure.

** Happens in a later episode where Bobby takes to growing roses and fails in a florist competition. He's disappointed and depressed about it, but shocked when he sees Hank (who he actively hid his roses from in the beginning) planting his flowers in the garden. When Bobby asks why he'd do this even if he didn't win, Hank explains, "Well, the Cowboys don't win every game, but I still cheer them on year after year."
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' had an episode where, after scoring second highest on an exam, one character was told by his mother "that would make you the winning loser." Said boy then strikes a vendetta against the top scorer, who happens to be Batman's best friend. To point out how ridiculously high the standards of the guy's mom were, he got 2391 out of 2400. The only person above him got a perfect score.

* The Misfits from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' were the number one band in America until Jem and the Holograms came along. Even then, they're just barely in second place. Despite this they [[SoreLoser absolutely hate being second]] and are frequently trying to dethrone Jem's band (usually by violence or other improper means). When it comes to their lead singer Pizzazz, this is related to her FreudianExcuse. Her mother [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned her]] and her father when she was young and her father [[ParentalNeglect was very distant]] and preferred to throw presents at her rather than spend time with her. She came to [[AttentionWhore crave attention]] and uses her fans as a substitute for it. Pizzazz wants to be the number one band and won't take second place. In one episode The Misfits lost a contest with the Holograms where the objective was to sell more records, losing by ''one sale''. Stormer even reminded her two friends that they had managed to sell a million albums (the equivalent of a platinum) but Pizzazz was ''still'' furious.

* ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' has Priscilla Jones, who got second-place in the science fair when she was a little girl because Uncle Grandpa accidentally chipped it, and instead of helping her fix it, took her on an adventure involving playing hackey-sack with Martians. Her reaction? [[spoiler:She lost it and vowed to take Uncle Grandpa's job, taking on the alter ego "Aunt Grandma".]]

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* Also subverted in ''Film/BringItOn''. After all the crazy stuff they went through, it was a miracle they did as well as they did.
* Famously subverted in ''Film/{{Rocky}}'', although the sequels tilt toward it.

** Ironically, Liverpool have not been champions of English football since the 1989-90 season, even before the Premier League era, and they're the highest profiled of the Big Six of English football that have never won it (the other being Spurs). In the mean time, they've been surpassed by Manchester United in the most titles won race due to the efforts of Sir Alex Ferguson, and have come close to winning it in the 2013-14 and 2018-19 seasons, but having won 10 domestic cup titles and 5 European competition including 2 Champions Leagues and 1 [=UEFA=] Cup.

* Nanny Ogg in the Literature/{{Discworld}} series is perfectly aware of this, and prefers to come in second, because if you come in first, people are constantly trying to beat you and you're under pressure to keep coming in first. She likes coming second, because it's the runner-up that people pat on the back and say "It was a good try" and buy drinks for.

[[caption-width-right:350:[=McKayla=] Maroney has won the Silver. And just ''look'' at how happy she is!]]

* A quarter of a century later, the Croatian Soccer team lost the 2018 World Cup final to France. While the team did look disappointed during the presentation ceremony itself, that soon evaporated. The Croatian capital had scenes of celebration. (https://www.balls.ie/football/lose-world-cup-final-392896) . After all, gritty, hard fighting underdog representing a small nation of 4 million don't usually reach a World Cup Final.

* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', all Vanellope has to do to be un-glitched is finish a race; it doesn't matter about her placement. Ralph acknowledges this, but she's insistent on winning, even though it puts her in more danger.

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', Phil's training song talks about wanting a more successful protege. [[PainfulRhyme "The kind who wins trophies, won't settle for low-phies, at least semi-pro-phies, but no!]] [[VisualPun I get the greenhorn!"]] As he sings, Phil receives AmusingInjuries after polishing an old trophy a student won for 11th place.

* In ''Film/SeasonOfMiracles, Zack and his dad are both believers in this trope. When Zack says, "Third place feels like I... failed," his dad says, "Good! It's first place or nothing, son! That's the American way!"