What is someone called who places in the top 3 of a competition? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

You're perfectly right, we use the general term "place".

I was the first in my school to place in the annual spelling bee.

You could also use "award" without specifying which.

I won an award at the annual poker competition.

For the Olympics, since they award medals, they use "medaled".

He medaled in three events at the 2000 Olympics.