Some of the 2nd prize events are worth it for civs. World Fair, for instance, 2nd place gets you a free policy and 33% culture for 30 turns.
Agreed. International Games for example, while the 1st prize is very good for CV, just getting the 3rd prize is a big boost.
World Fair 2nd and 3rd places are actually very strong for science heavy civs, as it lets them get ideologies at a more reasonable time, and helps them meet their policy prereqs for wonder, as that tends to be their Achilles heel.