also-ran

plural also-rans

1. A person or animal who competed in a race, or other competition, but did not win.
2. figurativelyA loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten.

   The transition from comer to also-ran can be quick […]

   2004 August 9, The New Yorker, page 40

   5 more examples

   It also turned Palmer from an also-ran into a challenger.

   1960 June 18, “Nerves of Steel”, in The New York Times

   I have 37 actors and actresses I would supply for television and radio work and then I have maybe 150 to 200 also-rans who get extra work and television commercials.

   1962, Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament, volume 4, Australia, page 261

   […]some of Mr. Scorsese's accomplishments have been so stunning—that it's impossible to view "The Last Waltz" as anything but an also-ran.

   1978 April 26, Janet Maslin, “Film: Scorsese and the Band”, in The New York Times

   And, of course, it is also far easier, quicker, and less embarrassing to dismiss an also-ran over the phone than it is in person […]

   1993, Martin Yate, Hiring the Best, Adams Media, page 58

   […]as the drug came out of the R&D laboratory, it could have been just another also-ran […]

   1998, Richard C Dorf, The Technology Management Handbook, CRC Press, page 40