As of 2008, only ten players have collected The Triple Crown of Contract Bridge, that is won all of the three most important tournaments in bridge, the Bermuda Bowl, the World Team Olympiad and the World Open Pairs Championship. The ten winners are:
| Name | Bermuda Bowl | Olympiad | World Pairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre Jaïs | 1956 | 1960 | 1962 |
| Roger Trézel | 1956 | 1960 | 1962 |
| Bob Hamman | 1970 | 1988 | 1974 |
| Bobby Wolff | 1970 | 1988 | 1974 |
| Jeff Meckstroth | 1981 | 1988 | 1986 |
| Eric Rodwell | 1981 | 1988 | 1986 |
| Marcelo Branco | 1989 | 1976 | 1978 |
| Gabriel Chagas | 1989 | 1976 | 1990 |
| Fulvio Fantoni | 2005 | 2004 | 2002 |
| Claudio Nunes | 2005 | 2004 | 2002 |
The year in bold is the year in which each player won the concluding of his three titles.
As the World Team Olympiad and the World Open Pairs Championship alternate in subsequent even-numbered years, whilst the Bermuda Bowl is held in the odd-numbered years, in theory it is possible to win the three triple crown events in a timespan of no more than three years. So far, no bridge player has accomplished this feat. Closest came Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes who won the three events in a timespan of four years. As defending champions they ended third in the 2006 World Open Pairs Championship, the closest any partnership ever got in defending their title in this event. A win would have secured them a 'three-year' triple crown.
Famous quotes containing the words triple, crown and/or bridge:
“And DANTE searched the triple spheres,
Moulding nature at his will,
So shaped, so colored, swift or still,
And, sculptor-like, his large design
Etched on Alp and Apennine.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I often used to think myself in the case of the fox-hunter, who, when he had toiled and sweated all day in the chase as if some unheard-of blessing was to crown his success, finds at last all he has got by his labor is a stinking nauseous animal. But my condition was yet worse than his; for he leaves the loathsome wretch to be torn by his hounds, whilst I was obliged to fondle mine, and meanly pretend him to be the object of my love.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“Oh, who will now be able to relate how Pantagruel behaved in face of these three hundred giants! Oh my muse, my Calliope, my Thalie, inspire me now, restore my spirits, because here is the ass’s bridge of logic, here is the pitfall, here is the difficulty of being able to describe the horrible battle undertaken.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)