Olympic Medal Theory

I have a theory about Olympic medal winners:

Bronze medal winners are happier than silver medal winners.

OK, maybe not every time, but I'll bet it's true more often than not.

Gold medal winners, of course, are the happiest, but the silver medal winner is usually settling for the silver. They wanted the gold and didn't get it. They are disappointed. For head-to-head competition (like soccer/fútbol) the silver medal means you lost in the final game.

The bronze medal winner, by contrast, probably wasn't in the running for the gold, an maybe not even the silver. Their alternative was nothing. 4th place? That's the unhappiest place of all. Again, for sports like soccer the bronze medal means you won your last game. The bronze medal winner still gets a medal and gets to be on the podium. I expect that they are just grateful to be there.