I have a question regarding the usage of definite/indefinite article.

[vmffhflek08]

This may be a fairly simple questino for you but since my first language doesn't have definite/indefinite articles, using articles is one of the toughest part in learning English for me. So I was wondering, when you say, "I won a/the second place." whether I should use a or the. I was thinking that I should just say "I won the second place," considering that there's only one second place, but I heard someone else say "I won a second place." So, is it a matter of context where this sentence is used that determines the usage of definite/indefinite article?

[Grumpy]

Most of the time, we don't use either! Talking about a specific competition we would generally say: "I won second place".
In other circumstances, one might say: "Over the season, I won three firsts and a second place". One would not normally ever say "I won the second place".

[vmffhflek08]

Thank you! :)