History Main / SecondPlaceIsForLosers

* Briefly referenced in ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' when Meilin's parents test her claim of getting her emotion fueled transformations under control by showing her pictures of things that they knew would upset her. It was her taking second place at a years-ago spelling bee that obliged her to retreat to her HappyPlace lest she become a [[CuteGiant giant fluffball]] at the kitchen table.

* The almost eternal "curse" of the Chilean soccer club [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Deportivo_Universidad_Católica 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]]:

* Deconstructed in ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': "Kill Screen" involves the murder of a video game tournament leader who let the winner cheat to win big so the game would become more popular. Mac has a EurekaMoment and says, "Second place is the first loser." That guy had the most to lose and immediately becomes the primary suspect. [[spoiler: Mac is right, he's the killer.]]

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

* In the [[RacingMinigame racing minigames]] from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', Mario must beat all the [=NPCs=] in a race first to obtain the Power Star. If he falls in second or below, then [[DrivenToSuicide he will lose a life]].

-->'''The King of All Cosmos:''' If We were doing it, it would be much, much bigger.\\

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

* For three seasons (2011, 2012, and 2013) NASCAR season, driver Martin Truex Jr. finished more closest to first than every other driver in NASCAR by coming in ''second'' in race after race after race after race. Rather than this consistent performance being rightly seen as a mark of a highly skilled driver, pretty much all of NASCAR (including Truex ''and'' his fans) consider him "underperforming".

** 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 the things Earnhardt is remembered for is finishing second in the Daytona 500 over and over and over...

* A quarter of a century later, the Croatian football (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 underdogs representing a small nation of 4 million don't usually reach a World Cup Final.

* 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]].

* In a combination of this and the SoreLoser, China blatantly tried to fudge its 2020 Olympic medal count by including those won by Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong as a way to put themselves ahead of Team USA, who pulled a last-minute squeaker and bagged 39 gold medals. The Chinese Olympic Committee was mocked for such a trivial matter.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown makes it to the National Spelling Bee Championship (having won the State one) and comes second, only for everyone to see him as 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 almost everyone else ''in the entire country''. Surely that should count for something?* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'':

* Referenced in "The Ballad of Sara Berry" in ''35MM: A Musical Exhibition.'' When it becomes increasingly clear the title character will come in second to the WheelchairWoobie in the Prom Queen election, she might still qualify for a place on the prom court - but [[AbusiveParents her father's]] attitude contributes to her obsession with winning at all costs.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Endeavor is one of the greatest superheroes on Earth, beloved and feared in equal measure, but none of it is good enough for him because [[AlwaysSecondBest he's stuck in second place in official rankings to All Might]]. His obsession with getting out of second place leads to him being an [[AbusiveParents absolutely horrible]] father and husband to his family, while also pushing himself past the breaking point, all in the name of glory. [[spoiler:He gets his wish when All Might is forced into retirement after an especially grueling battle... [[WantingIsBetterThanHavingand utterly hates it]], knowing that he didn't properly earn first place and [[HeelRealization realizing that he was being a hero for all the wrong reasons]] (as well as how much everybody despises him because of it).]]

** In "Guitar Villain", record producer Bob Roth demonstrates these views, telling Jagged Stone that he'll be dropped from the label if he remains at #2 on the charts. Jagged angrily points out to him that #2 on the charts is ''still'' good, and that any other record label would be more than eager to take him if he was dropped.

** Applejack is rather devastated during "The Last Roundup" when she fails to bring home first place in the rodeo championship, and the prize money to help fix town hall. Not helped by the fact that she had won the Ponyville rodeo ten times in a row but couldn't succeed when she tried to compete in Canterlot.
--->'''Applejack:''' Don't you get it? There's every color of ribbon down there. Every color... but... blue.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' version of ''Comicbook/ContestOfChampions'', the Grandmaster taunts the Collector with "Second place means first loser!"

** 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 the Rams won the NFC Championship Game against the Saints in large part due to the officials' failure to throw a flag on a blatant pass-interference penalty, which made many people, especially Saints fans, feel that they didn't deserve to play in the Super Bowl in the first place.

** 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.

* Any [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] team that loses in the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl is more likely to be remembered as a team that choked on the biggest stage rather than being recognized for the success that got them to the game in the first place. See below for some egregious examples...

* In ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'', this trope is the reason Jerome's in the wheelchair in the first place. He ''tried to kill himself'' by stepping out into traffic because he got second place in a professional swimming competition. It's implied that he couldn't deal with not coming in first because of the movie's society maintaining that those with superior genes (like Jerome's) are supposed to be perfect.

'''Jerome:''' Are you colorblind, too? It's silver. Jerome Morrow was never meant to be second place.

-->'''Gelorum:''' ''We were'' made ''to win! Winning is all there is!''

* The Racing Drones from ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsAcceleRacers'' fall into this category [[spoiler: due to them being made by [[Precursor the Accelerons]] as test drivers for the Racing Realms [[SecretTestOfCharacter in order to test the Human drivers]] if they are worthy to inherit their knowledge.]] [[BigBad Gelorum]] broke away and took the entirety of the other Racing Drones with her on a crusade to beat the Racing Realms, claim the Accelechargers, [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and finally kill off the Accelerons.]]
-->'''Gelorum:''' ''We were'' made ''to win! Winning is all there is!''

* The Racing Drones from ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsAcceleRacers'' fall into this category [[spoiler:due to them only being made by [[Precursors the Accelerons]] as test drivers for the Racing Realms [[SecretTestOfCharacter in order to test the Human drivers]] if they are worthy to inherit their knowledge.]] [[BigBad Gelorum]] broke away and took the entirety of the other Racing Drones with her on a crusade to beat the Racing Realms, claim the Accelechargers, [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and finally kill off the Accelerons.]]
-->'''Gelorum:''' ''We were'' made ''to win! Winning is all there is!''

You gotta face it: no matter how happy you are to be on that awards stand, first place is still better than second. But sometimes a person takes this a bit too far. When somebody starts acting like second place is for losers, it doesn't matter if you've won a footrace with everyone on the planet and bested 6,999,999,998 people. All that matters is you didn't beat the one.

* This is the primary motivation for Eddie Felson throughout ''Film/TheHustler'' -- it's not enough that he's already a great pool player, he ''must'' defeat Minnesota Fats and have Fats acknowledge him as the best.