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:
“Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O’er all the Italian fields where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who, having learnt thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I’ll make thee glorious by my pen
And famous by my sword;
I’ll serve thee in such noble ways
Was never heard before;
I’ll crown and deck thee all with bays,
And love thee more and more.”
—James Graham Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650)
“It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O, my soul.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)