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Ela ficou em segundo lugar.

Ela ficou em segundo lugar.
She came in second place.
From Lesson 141:Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primeiro a décimo)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ela ficou em segundo lugar.

Why does the sentence use ficou instead of the verb for "came"?
In English, we say someone "came" in second place, but in Portuguese, the verb ficar (to stay / to end up) is used for rankings and competition results. So, Ela ficou translates here as "She came" or "She placed".
Why is it segundo and not segunda, since the subject Ela is feminine?
Ordinal numbers like segundo must agree with the noun they describe, not with the person doing the action. Here, segundo describes the noun lugar (place), which is masculine. If she had finished the second lap (volta - feminine), it would be segunda volta.
Does the ordinal number always go before the noun like it does here?
Usually, yes! While regular descriptive adjectives in Portuguese generally come after the noun, ordinal numbers like segundo are an exception and almost always come before the noun.
Why do we use the preposition em instead of no?
No is a combination of em + o (in the). Just like in English, the standard phrase in Portuguese is "in second place" (em segundo lugar) rather than "in the second place" (no segundo lugar).

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