I never v thought of it that way, but your reminds me of Daniel Kahneman’s work regarding how people remember their own experiences. Regardless of how well things went during the entire duration of the activity, the last experience was disproportionately weighted in terms of framing the memory. In that context, it makes sense why the tournament style silver medalists would be more dissatisfied.

“We suggest that patients' memories of painful medical procedures largely reflect the intensity of pain at the worst part and at the final part of the experience.”[1]

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/030439...